A Cook County sheriff’s officer has sued WWE and wrestler Montez Ford over an alleged unwanted sexualised dance during Monday Night Raw, claiming the televised incident led to public humiliation and left his children being mocked at school. The lawsuit centres on footage from a July event in Illinois, which the plaintiff says spread online after WWE and Ford shared it.
A ringside encounter that became the subject of a lawsuit
Noel Lucas, a Cook County Sheriff’s officer who also works private security, was assigned to the July 6, 2026, episode of Monday Night Raw at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, near Chicago. According to the lawsuit, a WWE employee instructed him to take a position closer to ringside before the Street Profits’ entrance.The tag-team duo, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, were making their way to the ring when Ford, whose legal name is Kenneth Crawford, allegedly approached Lucas and performed an unwanted lap dance during the Netflix broadcast. The complaint says Ford danced immediately in front of and over Lucas, repeatedly thrusting and gyrating his hips and pelvis.The lawsuit describes the encounter as “a sexually provocative dance immediately in front of and over Plaintiff [Lucas], repeatedly thrusting and gyrating his hips and pelvis towards Plaintiff, performing a sexualized ‘lap dance.’”It further alleges Ford moved progressively closer to Lucas as the dance continued, with his “left inner thigh repeatedly rub[bing] against Plaintiff’s leg.” The footage appeared to show Lucas looking uncomfortable before later cracking a faint smile, although the lawsuit alleges that the performance was unscripted and took place without his consent.
The footage spread online, and Lucas says the consequences followed him home
The interaction was not included in the current Netflix replay of the July 6 programme, which cuts to a commercial break early in the Street Profits’ entrance. However, a clip circulated online, including through WWE’s and Ford’s social media accounts. Lucas alleges that the video attracted hundreds of thousands of views and made him recognisable to members of the public.According to the complaint, Lucas encountered people at his full-time courthouse job who recognised him from the clip and mocked him by thrusting their hips towards him, imitating the movements Ford had allegedly performed. The lawsuit also says Lucas’s children were “mocked and ridiculed” at school because of the video.Lucas alleges that he has suffered “humiliation, embarrassment and emotional distress” and continues to experience distress because the footage remains publicly available. His complaint also argues that WWE and Ford used his visible image for commercial purposes without authorisation, allegedly violating the Illinois Right of Publicity Act.
The complaint names WWE, Ford and a company subsidiary
Lucas filed the lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, naming WWE, Crawford and its subsidiary Event Services, LLC, as defendants. The complaint lists 14 counts, including allegations of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of the Illinois Gender Violence Act.The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary and punitive damages, reimbursement of legal costs, and an order preventing WWE and Ford from using Lucas’s identity. These are allegations in a civil complaint, rather than findings established by a court.WWE had not immediately responded to a request for comment, according to the report. The case is scheduled for a management hearing on December 10.
Lucas’s lawyer says he was working to support his family
Lucas’s second job brought him to the arena. Alongside his work for the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, he supervises a team of security guards for Monterrey Security, the private firm that assigned him to the event.In a press release provided to POST Wrestling, Lucas’s attorney Whitney Barr said: “Like so many law enforcement officers, Mr. Lucas works a second job in order to better provide for his children.”Lucas is represented by Barr and Alexis Martin of Caffarelli & Martin Ltd. The lawsuit places the alleged incident, its circulation online and the claimed impact on Lucas’s family at the centre of the dispute, while the defendants’ responses and the court’s findings remain pending.