Steven Seagal Sued for 'Overkill' Arrest on His 'Lawman' TV Show

Actor Steven Seagal is being sued by an Arizona man who claims he was under siege in an "overkill" arrest staged for reality TV.

Jesus Llovera, 43, filed a civil lawsuit against Seagal, 59, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and the county's Board of Supervisors, The Arizona Republic reports.

Llovera claims his March 2011 arrest -- for keeping roosters and chickens on his property, in violation of his probation -- was staged for a reality TV show, A&E's "Steven Seagal: Lawman," according to the Republic.

Seagal, who is also a reserve sheriff's deputy in Louisiana, drove a tank that knocked down a wall during the raid on Jesus Llovera's home, the Steven Seagal lawsuit claims, according to The Huffington Post.

Llovera's 11-month-old dog was shot and killed during the raid. Some of Llovera's 100 roosters were confiscated and euthanized. At one point, a bomb robot was even called in.

It all made for quite a spectacle, and Steven Seagal himself even paraded Llovera in handcuffs in front of TV cameras -- then walked away to do media interviews, Llovera told the Republic. "What they showed up for was to make a show, and they made one," he said.

You can watch part of the raid in this report by Phoenix's KNXV-TV:

Llovera's lawsuit seeks unspecified money damages for the raid, which his lawyer called "overkill" in an attempt to boost ratings. A sheriff's spokesman, however, said the raid would have happened with or without Steven Seagal's film crew.

Probation terms generally allow for searches of a probationer's home without a warrant, but that's not true in every state. In Llovera's arrest, sheriff's deputies did have a proper warrant when they searched Llovera's home, the sheriff's spokesman told the Republic.

Jesus Llovera was charged with raising animals for cockfighting after the raid -- a charge he denies. Llovera filed his Steven Seagal lawsuit on Tuesday.

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