BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge police officer accused in a lawsuit of injuring a suspect and taking part in a strip search at BRPD's "BRAVE Cave" is asking a federal judge to remove him from the case.

Matthew Wallace says his tripping Jeremy Lee while fearing an escape was accepted police practice — and that Lee acknowledged the maneuver caused "no distinct physical injury." Further, Wallace's lawyers wrote in a motion filed Sunday, the officer was not present for a strip search and did not order it.

"Consequently, he cannot be held liable under a theory of personal involvement or bystander liability, as he lacked any reasonable opportunity to intervene," the lawyers wrote.

Wallace was part of BRPD's Street Crimes Unit when it raided a suspected drug house on Cadillac Street in January 2023. According to police, Lee was present at a home where they found 454 grams of marijuana, six semi-automatic weapons and heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine.

Wallace said that, at the notorious "Brave Cave," after hearing "foot scuffling" from an adjacent room, he walked in and saw Lee running toward a door. Fearing Lee was trying to escape, he executed a "leg sweep" to take Lee down, the lawyers said.

They attorneys included in their motion a copy of Lee's deposition in which the suspect said he didn't know whether Wallace knew what was taking place.

The police department used the "BRAVE Cave" as a center for processing suspects and evidence for its narcotics division. The Street Crimes Unit has since been disbanded.

A federal judge last winter refused to dismiss Wallace and another officer from a separate BRAVE Cave lawsuit involving a strip search allegation.