Hero cop sued by Columbia professor

Columbia University professor and noted hip-hop scholar Marc Lamont Hill filed a federal civil rights lawsuit this week against the Philadelphia Police Department and Officer Richard DeCoatsworth, a cop hailed as a hero when he survived a gunshot blast to the face in 2007.

Hill, 31, who lives in Philadelphia, claims that around 12:30 a.m. on June 12, as he was dropping a passenger off at 11th Street and Lindley Avenue in North Philadelphia, DeCoatsworth and his partner pulled up behind him and motioned for him to move his car. Hill indicated to the cops that he was dropping someone off and the cops drove away, the suit said.

But as Hill pulled away, he claims DeCoatsworth pulled him over. Though he wouldn't tell him why at first, DeCoatsworth's unnamed partner later said it was for "illegal discharge of a passenger and blocking the street," according to the suit.

During the stop, Hill claims DeCoatsworth and his partner searched his car without a warrant or permission and that DeCoatsworth went through his pockets and dragged him out of the car by his left arm. DeCoatsworth then slammed Hill against his vehicle, pushed his fist into Hill's back and threatened to take him to jail, the suit alleges. Hill claims that DeCoatsworth also asked whether he could afford his car and went through his checkbook.

Hill was eventually let go and told to get out of the neighborhood without ever being cited or arrested, the suit said.

He claims in the suit, which was filed Tuesday, that the Constitutional violations he suffered were the result of "the City's policies, procedures, customs and practices of allowing its officers to make stops without reasonable suspicion, and to use unreasonable and excessive force thereby violating the civil rights of those with whom they come into contact."

Hill, a former Temple University Professor, focuses his research on "hip-hop culture, politics, sexuality, education and religion," according to his website. He is a frequent commentator Fox News and also appears on CNN and MSNBC. Hill has written two books and is an associate professor of education at Columbia University's Teachers College.

Hill is a Philadelphia native and resident and in 2005, was named one of Ebony Magazine's top 30 black leaders under 30. He was named a Daily News Sexy Single in 2007.

In 2007, DeCoatsworth, then a rookie cop, was shot in the face during a West Philly traffic stop, but despite his wounds, chased the suspect for two blocks. In February 2009, he sat next to First Lady Michelle Obama during the president's first address to a joint session of Congress.

In April 2009, DeCoatsworth got into a struggle with a suspect who tried to take his gun, which discharged and shot the suspect, who was later killed by another cop. Last September, DeCoatsworth shot another suspect, after he tried to run him over with his motorcycle during a traffic stop in Kensington, police said. The suspect survived the shooting.

Calls to Hill, his lawyer and the Philadelphia Police Department were not immediately returned.

Read more in tomorrow's Daily News.