NEWPORT — A retired black city policeman has filed a claim against the city over a confrontation he had three years ago with a white police officer that ended in his being shot three times with a Taser.

Thomas Zeigler, who retired in 1997 after 27 years with the Newport Police Department, is seeking “money damages” for assault, false arrest and violation of his civil rights, according to a one-page claim the city received July 9.

Zeigler and his Providence lawyer, Walter Stone, maintain that the way the retired officer was treated by the police on Aug. 19, 2005, was racially motivated. Stone said yesterday that he had to file the notice before the third anniversary of the incident to preserve Zeigler’s right to file a civil lawsuit.

Zeigler, who was 62 at the time and living in Raleigh, N.C., had returned to Newport for a visit. He said he was walking through the police parking lot behind police headquarters on his way to borrow a car of his friend, Lt. Frederick M. Gonsalves.

Patrolman Joseph C. Carroll, who had just arrived for his 12:30 a.m. shift and was not yet in uniform, confronted Zeigler. His report doesn’t indicate that he knew Zeigler, but notes that he questioned him about what he was doing in the unsecured lot and told him to walk around it next time.

Carroll said he identified himself as a police officer and that Zeigler refused to say who he was or why he was approaching Gonsalves’ car. The officer said that Zeigler then walked toward him and bumped his chest. A scuffle ensued.

Officer Jason S. Kleinknecht came outside to help Carroll, and although Zeigler raised his arms, he refused an order to get on the ground. That’s when the officers saw a gun in a holster on Zeigler’s belt. Carroll drew his gun and aimed it at Zeigler. But Zeigler, a Marine who saw combat in Vietnam, again refused to get on the ground.

That’s when Kleinknecht fired the Taser at him. He fired two more times, the officers reported, because Zeigler would not stay down and allow himself to be handcuffed. After being shot with the stun gun, Zeigler had difficulty breathing and was taken to the hospital.

Zeigler later defended himself, saying in an interview that Carroll never identified himself as a police officer and spoke so profanely he could never have imagined he was an officer. He said “I just kept going. I didn’t want no problems with anybody.”

Stone added that there are no signs around the lot indicating it’s off-limits to the public, and that its gates were kept wide open. Civilians always cut through it, he said. Had Ziegler been white, he would never have been treated the way he was, Stone said.

The police charged Zeigler with felony assault and two misdemeanors — resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer. The attorney general’s office later ruled that the assault charge was not substantiated because Carroll was not yet on duty.

The police did not withdraw the misdemeanor charges, but the case has inexplicably stalled in District Court, Stone said yesterday.

“I filed a motion to dismiss,” Stone said. “The judge never ruled on it.”

That’s one reason that, in filing the claim, he preserved Zeigler’s right to sue in the next 40 days. The city, Stone said, could “resurrect” the criminal case.

He suggested that the criminal case and the civil claim could have all been avoided.

“Think of all of the years of service he gave to the city,” Stone said. “If someone had just said, ‘We are sorry. Do you have any medical damages or anything?’ He hasn’t heard from them at all. I’ve held off as long as I could.”

There is still time, however, to avoid a lawsuit.

“I’m waiting to see if they can even bother to respond. If they want to sit down and talk about it, maybe we can resolve it,” Stone said.

Zeigler, who still returns to Rhode Island to visit family, now lives in Texas, Stone said. He was an original member of the Rhode Island Minority Police Association.

rsalit@projo.com