On the evening of April 10, 2025, former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Wesley Leasy was picking up his daughter, Jade, from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The father-daughter reunion quickly turned into a distressing situation, though. At least ten policemen surrounded them outside the airport and detained them. It all turned out to be a major fumble by the police, but Leasy did not take the incident lightly.

In October, he filed a notice of claim, the first step when willing to sue any government body. Not getting any response on his $2 million demand, he has now chosen to take the second step and sue the responsible police departments, as CBS’s Anna Schecter reported today.

“A brand new lawsuit was just filed by former NFL star Wesley Leasy and his daughter Jade,” Schecter said. “The police made a huge mistake and detained them at gunpoint, handcuffed Leasy…He’s filing this lawsuit because he says he wants accountability, and he’s suing for damages. ‘This was terrifying and humiliating,’ he tells me.”

This latest development comes roughly a year after the Mesa and Phoenix Police Departments detained Leasy and Jade. Then, the Leaslys were just done putting the bags in the trunk of their white Mercedes when multiple officers surrounded them with guns and tasers pointed at their faces.

They ordered the two to lie on the ground and spread their hands ahead as they cuffed them. Wesley and Jade repeatedly asked, “What are you guys doing?” as the daughter cried helplessly. Despite his revealing his heart condition, the police did not budge.

The next thing the two knew, they were sitting inside the police station, where they were being told how the policemen had made a mistake. That moment had already led to legal action.

“It wasn’t a case of mistaken identity. This is a case of common sense,” said attorney Benjamin Taylor in October 2025. “They’re trying to sweep it under the rug. And that’s why you have to bring a notice of claim to make sure that this is not swept under the rug. Make sure the public in the world understands that these things happen every day to totally innocent people.”

Back in October 2025, Leasy and Jade filed a notice of claim. The two notices were for $1 million each against the cities of Mesa and Phoenix, their respective police departments, the Phoenix Aviation Department, and the airport itself.

According to those filings, Leasy sought $2 million in damages for the pain and embarrassment both he and his daughter experienced. Beyond that, the incident left a lasting psychological impact, with Leasy later saying he believed his life was at risk.

“I’m in a very precarious situation,” Leasy said, addressing the distressing situation. “I know my life is in danger, but I know that my daughter, on the other side of me, is becoming unstable. She doesn’t know what’s going on. My daughter’s hysterically crying.

“There’s at least ten guys with their guns pulled out, and there are lasers now pointing at you, machine guns, heavy, not a handgun. You’re thinking the very worst that somebody’s going to shoot you at this point. You don’t know why, or they think you’re going for a weapon, and you kid and yourself is going to be killed right here on the spot.”

However, the lawsuit represents much more.

Leasys, when being cuffed, did not realize what was happening, and they were not given any clarification. At that point, Wesley thought that if either of the two made a wrong move, they could be shot, and the result would be very different. The incident didn’t reach that point, but it made two helpless people with no criminal record feel insecure in their own country.

At this point, the impact of what happened on April 10 is clear, both for Leasy and Jade. And the police departments have not commented on the ongoing investigation. But what remains unclear is how so many policemen did not realize what was going on.

The police fumbled with Wesley Leasy and his daughter

In today’s age of technology, it is not a surprise that the police department also deploys them to track their suspects. But, at times, human judgment is also required, which was clearly missed in Leasy’s case.

Officers were flying a chopper over nearby highways, tracking a vehicle linked to an alleged shooter driving a white Mercedes. At some point, they lost sight of that car. And while circling to relocate it, they picked up another white Mercedes. The only difference was that this one was being driven by Wesley Leasy.

“Well, there was a homicide over in Mesa,” Leasy said. “The car matches your car and finally tells me this whole thing about, ‘Oh, we thought it was you. We lost the other can in the airport. Your car happened to match the car that we were chasing, and here we are.'”

But this is where the situation becomes harder to understand.

The suspect had been described as a young Caucasian male with tattoos on his neck and face. Despite that, and despite clearly seeing that Leasy was with his daughter, officers never paused to reassess whether they had the right person.

That disconnect is central to why the incident has drawn so much attention. It also explains why the former Cardinals linebacker is pursuing legal action against both cities and their respective departments. After all, the pain and embarrassment he and his daughter endured are hard to ignore.