Not another recent settlement but still important to know.
Nationwide Police Settlement Thread........How We Pay Them to Violate Us.
- Thread starter Politic Negro
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Santa Clara pays $5.3 million to family of man killed by police amid mental-health crisis
SANTA CLARA — The city of Santa Clara quietly paid $5.3 million last month to settle an excessive-force lawsuit from the family of Jesus Geney Montes, who was shot and killed by police while he was experiencing a psychiatric breakdown more than four years ago.
The settlement is one of the largest stemming from a police shooting in the region’s history and is the second largest in recent memory for Santa Clara: In 2017, the city paid a $6.7 million settlement to a woman whose leg was broken when police forced entry into her home without a warrant while looking to arrest her teenage daughter.
The city did not announce the settlement until it was required to respond to a public-records request filed by this news organization. The federal civil-rights lawsuit, filed on behalf of Geney Montes’ parents Richard and Amanda Sommers, was scheduled to go to trial this month before the monetary resolution was reached.
In the video, Geney Montes is shown several yards away from officers and separated from them by the fence when Stewart shot him.
In the wake of the death, Richard and Amanda Sommers were joined by local civil-rights groups in protesting his killing and questioning why police resorted to using deadly force on their son, and Cajina reiterated that Geney Montes “was only a danger to himself.”
SANTA CLARA — The city of Santa Clara quietly paid $5.3 million last month to settle an excessive-force lawsuit from the family of Jesus Geney Montes, who was shot and killed by police while he was experiencing a psychiatric breakdown more than four years ago.
The settlement is one of the largest stemming from a police shooting in the region’s history and is the second largest in recent memory for Santa Clara: In 2017, the city paid a $6.7 million settlement to a woman whose leg was broken when police forced entry into her home without a warrant while looking to arrest her teenage daughter.
The city did not announce the settlement until it was required to respond to a public-records request filed by this news organization. The federal civil-rights lawsuit, filed on behalf of Geney Montes’ parents Richard and Amanda Sommers, was scheduled to go to trial this month before the monetary resolution was reached.
“Nothing is going to bring Jesus back. The money will never make Amanda whole again,” said family attorney Fulvio Cajina. “But $5.3 million does send the message that the city did something wrong. To that extent, we’re very content with the settlement because we think we did get justice for the family.”
In a statement, the city said the settlement “was a mutual agreement to support the family dealing with a loss of a family member and is not an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the city’s police department or any of its personnel.”
“It is with the sincere hope that settling this case will help the family begin to deal with the loss of their son,” the statement continues. “The City Council felt it was in the best interest of the Sommers family and Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD) personnel to approve its insurance company’s settlement of this case and not expose the involved parties to a difficult and emotional trial.”
On March 9, 2017, the 24-year-old Geney Montes was in the throes of a mental-health crisis that prompted five police visits to his Deborah Drive apartment the day of the shooting, during which he barricaded himself in his bedroom. At one point he reportedly told officers that “he had a gun and would shoot them if they came in,” according a November 2017 investigative report by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office that cleared Officer Colin Stewart of any criminal liability for fatally shooting Geney Montes.
During the first four visits, police decided his behavior did not rise to the level of an arrestable offense, but the fifth police call came with the report that he “had stabbed himself” and fled from his bedroom window. In an encounter captured on body-camera video, officers caught up to Geney Montes as he stood on an embankment along a trail behind the home a short distance from the intersection of Scott Boulevard and Monroe Street.
Geney Montes ran off, and Stewart climbed a wall in pursuit and caught up to him near a fence. Prosecutors said Stewart tried to use his Taser, and soon after he fired his weapon because Geney Montes “continued to charge toward him.” Afterward they discovered Geney Montes was unarmed, and they later found a small bloody kitchen knife he presumably used to injure himself.
In a statement, the city said the settlement “was a mutual agreement to support the family dealing with a loss of a family member and is not an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the city’s police department or any of its personnel.”
“It is with the sincere hope that settling this case will help the family begin to deal with the loss of their son,” the statement continues. “The City Council felt it was in the best interest of the Sommers family and Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD) personnel to approve its insurance company’s settlement of this case and not expose the involved parties to a difficult and emotional trial.”
On March 9, 2017, the 24-year-old Geney Montes was in the throes of a mental-health crisis that prompted five police visits to his Deborah Drive apartment the day of the shooting, during which he barricaded himself in his bedroom. At one point he reportedly told officers that “he had a gun and would shoot them if they came in,” according a November 2017 investigative report by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office that cleared Officer Colin Stewart of any criminal liability for fatally shooting Geney Montes.
During the first four visits, police decided his behavior did not rise to the level of an arrestable offense, but the fifth police call came with the report that he “had stabbed himself” and fled from his bedroom window. In an encounter captured on body-camera video, officers caught up to Geney Montes as he stood on an embankment along a trail behind the home a short distance from the intersection of Scott Boulevard and Monroe Street.
Geney Montes ran off, and Stewart climbed a wall in pursuit and caught up to him near a fence. Prosecutors said Stewart tried to use his Taser, and soon after he fired his weapon because Geney Montes “continued to charge toward him.” Afterward they discovered Geney Montes was unarmed, and they later found a small bloody kitchen knife he presumably used to injure himself.
In the video, Geney Montes is shown several yards away from officers and separated from them by the fence when Stewart shot him.
In the wake of the death, Richard and Amanda Sommers were joined by local civil-rights groups in protesting his killing and questioning why police resorted to using deadly force on their son, and Cajina reiterated that Geney Montes “was only a danger to himself.”
Honolulu poised to pay $1M settlement for 2017 HPD fatal shooting
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The City is poised to pay $1 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
The settlement comes after a Honolulu police officer fatally shot a man who was believed to be driving a stolen truck in 2017.
There is concern that the City will once again be forced to pay more money with the recent police shootings.
The City Council will vote on the settlement on Tuesday, May 18.
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The City is poised to pay $1 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
The settlement comes after a Honolulu police officer fatally shot a man who was believed to be driving a stolen truck in 2017.
There is concern that the City will once again be forced to pay more money with the recent police shootings.
Honolulu officers were called to Malaekahana Beach after reports of a stolen truck, which then turned into an officer-involved shooting. Police say the officer, named in the lawsuit as Scott Valdez, fired in self-defense.
“Upon arrival, an officer located the vehicle and ordered the driver to stop. In an attempt to flee, the vehicle driver struck the officer,” said HPD assistant chief Janet Crotteau.
The driver was 29-year-old Cameron Johnson, who died at the hospital. His mother sued the City and the officer. Attorney Michael Green says witnesses claim there was never any attempt to hit the officer with the truck.
“Shot five times and basically downward into his back and like I said, no weapon found, no key in the vehicle found, and the witnesses say the truck was rolling slowly. As the vehicle rolled
backwards, he walked parallel and put five bullets into the driver, my client,” said Green.
He says his client has agreed to settle the lawsuit with City attorneys, which has to be approved by the City Council. He would not confirm the amount of the settlement but sources say the City has agreed to pay a million dollars.
There is concern about more payouts, however. The widow of Lindani Myeni, who was killed in Nuunau while fighting with officers, has a pending lawsuit. Questions were also raised about the shooting death of 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap.
Green says these incidents raise the question of whether officers are getting enough training.
“People are concerned that those officers are well trained enough to make sure that a particular situation is not exacerbated and something that might be able to be handled with decorum and reasonableness doesn’t turn into a shootout,” said Green.
“Upon arrival, an officer located the vehicle and ordered the driver to stop. In an attempt to flee, the vehicle driver struck the officer,” said HPD assistant chief Janet Crotteau.
The driver was 29-year-old Cameron Johnson, who died at the hospital. His mother sued the City and the officer. Attorney Michael Green says witnesses claim there was never any attempt to hit the officer with the truck.
“Shot five times and basically downward into his back and like I said, no weapon found, no key in the vehicle found, and the witnesses say the truck was rolling slowly. As the vehicle rolled
backwards, he walked parallel and put five bullets into the driver, my client,” said Green.
He says his client has agreed to settle the lawsuit with City attorneys, which has to be approved by the City Council. He would not confirm the amount of the settlement but sources say the City has agreed to pay a million dollars.
There is concern about more payouts, however. The widow of Lindani Myeni, who was killed in Nuunau while fighting with officers, has a pending lawsuit. Questions were also raised about the shooting death of 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap.
Green says these incidents raise the question of whether officers are getting enough training.
“People are concerned that those officers are well trained enough to make sure that a particular situation is not exacerbated and something that might be able to be handled with decorum and reasonableness doesn’t turn into a shootout,” said Green.
The City Council will vote on the settlement on Tuesday, May 18.
Ohio city to pay couple $450K to settle police abuse lawsuit
APRIL 08, 2021
Euclid Law Director Kelley Sweeney declined to comment. The couple's attorney, Christopher McNeal, said he was “grateful these individuals will be compensated for he pain and suffering that they went through.”
The cellphone video of Hubbard's August 2017 arrest and beating by officer Michael Amiott went viral. Euclid police officials initially said Hubbard resisted arrest.
The dashcam video shows Amiott opening the car door and Hubbard getting out. Within a second of Amiott ordering him to “face away,” Amiott grabs Hubbard’s arms and wrestles him to the ground as Tirado jumps out of the car and rushes over.
Amiott is seen bashing Hubbard’s head against the pavement several times and then punching him in the head more than a dozen times as Hubbard tries to defend himself.
Charges filed against Hubbard and Tirado were eventually dismissed.
Euclid police had received previous reports about Amiott's behavior. He was fired by the city in October 2017. An arbitrator gave him his job back in October 2018.
Ohio city to pay couple $450K to settle police abuse lawsuit
CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland suburb has agreed to pay a couple $450,000 to settle a...www.milfordmirror.com
What stocked up is these arbitrators keep on giving these cops their job back. Cities can't even fire bad cops anymore
Yeah. At least that MF was assigned to a desk and not on the streets. Here's an update to his case.
Euclid police officer Michael Amiott’s trial postponed
The trial has been postponed for a Euclid police officer facing charges stemming from an August 2017 incident where he was seen on video kicking and punching a black motorist during a traffic stop.…
www.news-herald.com
As for the Arbitrator
Gregory P. Szuter - Mediator & Arbitrator based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gregory P. Szuter Mediator & Arbitrator with Arbitrator - Mediator in Cleveland, Ohio
I'm going to have to look into this organization.
Nah, even desk duty is too good. He should be stocking shelves at Kroger for $9.00/hr not making $50k or whatever cops makeYeah. At least that MF was assigned to a desk and not on the streets. Here's an update to his case.
Euclid police officer Michael Amiott’s trial postponed
The trial has been postponed for a Euclid police officer facing charges stemming from an August 2017 incident where he was seen on video kicking and punching a black motorist during a traffic stop.…
As for the Arbitrator
Gregory P. Szuter - Mediator & Arbitrator based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gregory P. Szuter Mediator & Arbitrator with Arbitrator - Mediator in Cleveland, Ohionadn.org
I'm going to have to look into this organization.
If I'm a cop, I don't fear losing my job. I know the chances are slim as fuck for me to get fired and stay fired
Long Beach to pay $250,000 in case of police officer who accidentally shot driver
JEREMIAH DOBRUCK MAY 19, 2021
Long Beach has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging a police officer was negligent when he unintentionally shot a man outside a music festival at the Queen Mary in February 2019.
The City Council approved the settlement during its closed-session meeting Tuesday night, according to an announcement from Long Beach City Attorney Charles Parkin.
A judge must still officially dismiss the case, but the settlement essentially ends the lawsuit from Anthony Garcia, who was shot in the arm after a routine conversation quickly spiraled into a guns-drawn car stop.
Police documents describe the incident in detail:
Garcia was driving a Honda Civic leaving the festival around 11:30 p.m. when he passed by an officer who was helping control the flood of traffic—in this case by giving Garcia directions to the freeway.
When the officer saw Garcia and the four passengers in the car had some open beers, he took a closer look and noticed a passenger in the back seat had a handgun partially hidden between his legs, according to his report.
The officer quickly snatched the gun, drew his own sidearm and called in other officers to help empty the car. Meanwhile, Garcia and the four passengers with him kept their hands up while the officer ordered them not to move, according to his report.
As police swarmed, motorcycle Officer Suradech Sriwanthana pulled up in front of the car, pointed his gun and tried to flip on a flashlight connected to the weapon. The switch was on the gun’s handle, directly below the trigger where it’s meant to be activated by an officer’s middle finger, according to police reports.
Instead of just turning on the light, the officer fired.
Sriwanthana told investigators he struggled to properly hit the switch because he was wearing bulky cold-weather motorcycle gloves, which he normally doesn’t use. He told them he doesn’t remember pulling the trigger but realized he’d fired after feeling the recoil from the gun.
The bullet hit Garcia in the forearm, causing “serious, debilitating, and permanent injuries” including “loss of strength, loss of range of motion, severe and on-going pain,” according to Garcia’s lawsuit.
After the gunshot, police ordered Garcia and his passengers to get out of the vehicle one by one. They took Garcia to the hospital and arrested one of the back-seat passengers on suspicion of carrying a loaded firearm.
Garcia sued for negligence, among other things, in January 2020, and the city soon admitted in court documents that he had a viable case where Long Beach would “almost certainly end up admitting liability.”
After an internal affairs investigation, Long Beach police moved to suspend Sriwanthana for four days in April 2020.
His mistake wounded someone and placed others at the scene in danger, but also “may have injured the public’s trust, confidence, and image of the Long Beach Police Department,” an LBPD lieutenant handling the case wrote. “It also had potential to impact the image and reputation of the law enforcement profession overall.”
Sriwanthana has appealed his discipline, according to the Long Beach Police Officers Association, but the Civil Service Commission, which adjudicates those appeals, has been unable to hold hearings during the pandemic.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has decided not to pursue any criminal charges against Sriwanthana, according to police documents.
Hyperlocal news is an essential force in our democracy, but it costs money to keep an organization like this one alive, and we can’t rely on advertiser support alone. That’s why we’re asking readers like you to support our independent, fact-based journalism. We know you like it—that’s why you’re here. Help us keep hyperlocal news alive in Long Beach.
JEREMIAH DOBRUCK MAY 19, 2021
Long Beach has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging a police officer was negligent when he unintentionally shot a man outside a music festival at the Queen Mary in February 2019.
The City Council approved the settlement during its closed-session meeting Tuesday night, according to an announcement from Long Beach City Attorney Charles Parkin.
A judge must still officially dismiss the case, but the settlement essentially ends the lawsuit from Anthony Garcia, who was shot in the arm after a routine conversation quickly spiraled into a guns-drawn car stop.
Police documents describe the incident in detail:
Garcia was driving a Honda Civic leaving the festival around 11:30 p.m. when he passed by an officer who was helping control the flood of traffic—in this case by giving Garcia directions to the freeway.
When the officer saw Garcia and the four passengers in the car had some open beers, he took a closer look and noticed a passenger in the back seat had a handgun partially hidden between his legs, according to his report.
The officer quickly snatched the gun, drew his own sidearm and called in other officers to help empty the car. Meanwhile, Garcia and the four passengers with him kept their hands up while the officer ordered them not to move, according to his report.
As police swarmed, motorcycle Officer Suradech Sriwanthana pulled up in front of the car, pointed his gun and tried to flip on a flashlight connected to the weapon. The switch was on the gun’s handle, directly below the trigger where it’s meant to be activated by an officer’s middle finger, according to police reports.
Instead of just turning on the light, the officer fired.
Sriwanthana told investigators he struggled to properly hit the switch because he was wearing bulky cold-weather motorcycle gloves, which he normally doesn’t use. He told them he doesn’t remember pulling the trigger but realized he’d fired after feeling the recoil from the gun.
The bullet hit Garcia in the forearm, causing “serious, debilitating, and permanent injuries” including “loss of strength, loss of range of motion, severe and on-going pain,” according to Garcia’s lawsuit.
After the gunshot, police ordered Garcia and his passengers to get out of the vehicle one by one. They took Garcia to the hospital and arrested one of the back-seat passengers on suspicion of carrying a loaded firearm.
Garcia sued for negligence, among other things, in January 2020, and the city soon admitted in court documents that he had a viable case where Long Beach would “almost certainly end up admitting liability.”
After an internal affairs investigation, Long Beach police moved to suspend Sriwanthana for four days in April 2020.
His mistake wounded someone and placed others at the scene in danger, but also “may have injured the public’s trust, confidence, and image of the Long Beach Police Department,” an LBPD lieutenant handling the case wrote. “It also had potential to impact the image and reputation of the law enforcement profession overall.”
Sriwanthana has appealed his discipline, according to the Long Beach Police Officers Association, but the Civil Service Commission, which adjudicates those appeals, has been unable to hold hearings during the pandemic.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has decided not to pursue any criminal charges against Sriwanthana, according to police documents.
Hyperlocal news is an essential force in our democracy, but it costs money to keep an organization like this one alive, and we can’t rely on advertiser support alone. That’s why we’re asking readers like you to support our independent, fact-based journalism. We know you like it—that’s why you’re here. Help us keep hyperlocal news alive in Long Beach.
Family to Receive $35,000 Settlement After Officers Strip-Searched Teen in Public
The City of Baton Rouge has agreed to pay $35,000 to the family of a teen who was strip-searched by officers during a traffic stop.
According to The Advocate, the incident occurred on Jan. 1, 2020, when Sgt. Ken Camallo stopped the 16-year-old, his 23-year-old brother Clarence Green, and a woman named Kayleen Butler, who was behind the wheel. Camallo said he was conducting “an investigatory stop … based on suspicious driving in a high crime area.” He also claimed he had spotted the car a “known drug house,” and had smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle during the stop.
Body camera footage showed the officer placing the minor and Green in handcuffs before strip searching each of them. The footage shows Camallo grabbing the brothers’ genitals, prompting Green to say, “C’mon man you can’t do that.”
“I can,” the officer responded.
According to a police report, officers claimed they found a firearm on Green and weed on the 16-year-old. They then drove the brothers to their home in an alleged attempt to release the teen to his mother; however, no one answered the door, and the officers began searching the residence with their guns drawn, without a warrant.
Green was on probation for Oxycodone possession at the time of stop, which meant he was not allowed to be carrying a gun. He was arrested and remained in jail for five months before the charges were ultimately dropped.
The family went on to file a federal a lawsuit against the city, the BRPD, and the involved officers. The complaint was quietly dismissed last week, after the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council agreed to pay a $35,000 settlement.
Camallo, who was listed as a defendant, remains on duty, but is reportedly the subject of an ongoing investigation.
“While the involved individuals have received a civil remedy in this matter, the officers involved must be held accountable,” East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said in a statement Wednesday. “We take all actions of this sort very seriously. We cannot go down a path that continues to tear at the fabric of trust between law enforcement and citizens.”
The City of Baton Rouge has agreed to pay $35,000 to the family of a teen who was strip-searched by officers during a traffic stop.
According to The Advocate, the incident occurred on Jan. 1, 2020, when Sgt. Ken Camallo stopped the 16-year-old, his 23-year-old brother Clarence Green, and a woman named Kayleen Butler, who was behind the wheel. Camallo said he was conducting “an investigatory stop … based on suspicious driving in a high crime area.” He also claimed he had spotted the car a “known drug house,” and had smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle during the stop.
Body camera footage showed the officer placing the minor and Green in handcuffs before strip searching each of them. The footage shows Camallo grabbing the brothers’ genitals, prompting Green to say, “C’mon man you can’t do that.”
“I can,” the officer responded.
According to a police report, officers claimed they found a firearm on Green and weed on the 16-year-old. They then drove the brothers to their home in an alleged attempt to release the teen to his mother; however, no one answered the door, and the officers began searching the residence with their guns drawn, without a warrant.
Green was on probation for Oxycodone possession at the time of stop, which meant he was not allowed to be carrying a gun. He was arrested and remained in jail for five months before the charges were ultimately dropped.
The family went on to file a federal a lawsuit against the city, the BRPD, and the involved officers. The complaint was quietly dismissed last week, after the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council agreed to pay a $35,000 settlement.
Camallo, who was listed as a defendant, remains on duty, but is reportedly the subject of an ongoing investigation.
“While the involved individuals have received a civil remedy in this matter, the officers involved must be held accountable,” East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said in a statement Wednesday. “We take all actions of this sort very seriously. We cannot go down a path that continues to tear at the fabric of trust between law enforcement and citizens.”
$6M settlement after 'KKK' deputies sued for excessive force
JUNE 17, 2021
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina sheriff’s office has agreed to a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit in which six families accused the department of a pattern of using excessive force doled out by deputies who had allegedly referred to themselves as the “KKK,” an attorney said Thursday.
Raleigh-based attorney Robert Zaytoun announced the settlement with the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office on behalf of the plaintiffs, WRAL reported. Zaytoun, who said the department's insurer will pay the settlement, didn’t respond to a phone call seeking additional comment on Thursday.
The families sued four deputies, Sheriff Wayne Coats and former Sheriff Larry Rollins in November 2016. The lawsuit was filed by the family of John David Livingston, who was shot and killed by a Harnett County deputy after refusing to allow a warrantless search of his home in 2015.
Former deputy Nicholas Kehagias fatally shot Livingston, 33, on Livingston’s front porch during a scuffle on Nov. 15, 2015. Witnesses said Kehagias barged into the home that night after Livingston, who was white, told him the person authorities were looking for didn’t live there. Witnesses said the deputy then yanked Livingston out of a chair, threw him to the ground, repeatedly used a stun gun and pepper spray on him and even put a gun to his head.
Lawyers for the sheriff’s office had argued in court documents that Livingston was intoxicated and had seized Kehagias’ stun gun, causing the officer to fear for his life. The deputy resigned, and a grand jury declined to indict him.
The lawsuit also had accused Kehagias and two other deputies whose surnames begin with the letter K of calling themselves the “KKK” and training together in a type of “fight club.”
The suit outlined 43 causes of action against the defendants, who denied a pattern of excessive force and argued that other plaintiffs similarly provoked deputies on separate occasions.
“This settlement is not in any way an admission of guilt to any actions of the deputies," Coats said in a statement. “Although I was not the sheriff at the time of the incidents, I still support the men that were involved and I believe they acted appropriately.”
JUNE 17, 2021
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina sheriff’s office has agreed to a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit in which six families accused the department of a pattern of using excessive force doled out by deputies who had allegedly referred to themselves as the “KKK,” an attorney said Thursday.
Raleigh-based attorney Robert Zaytoun announced the settlement with the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office on behalf of the plaintiffs, WRAL reported. Zaytoun, who said the department's insurer will pay the settlement, didn’t respond to a phone call seeking additional comment on Thursday.
The families sued four deputies, Sheriff Wayne Coats and former Sheriff Larry Rollins in November 2016. The lawsuit was filed by the family of John David Livingston, who was shot and killed by a Harnett County deputy after refusing to allow a warrantless search of his home in 2015.
Former deputy Nicholas Kehagias fatally shot Livingston, 33, on Livingston’s front porch during a scuffle on Nov. 15, 2015. Witnesses said Kehagias barged into the home that night after Livingston, who was white, told him the person authorities were looking for didn’t live there. Witnesses said the deputy then yanked Livingston out of a chair, threw him to the ground, repeatedly used a stun gun and pepper spray on him and even put a gun to his head.
Lawyers for the sheriff’s office had argued in court documents that Livingston was intoxicated and had seized Kehagias’ stun gun, causing the officer to fear for his life. The deputy resigned, and a grand jury declined to indict him.
The lawsuit also had accused Kehagias and two other deputies whose surnames begin with the letter K of calling themselves the “KKK” and training together in a type of “fight club.”
The suit outlined 43 causes of action against the defendants, who denied a pattern of excessive force and argued that other plaintiffs similarly provoked deputies on separate occasions.
“This settlement is not in any way an admission of guilt to any actions of the deputies," Coats said in a statement. “Although I was not the sheriff at the time of the incidents, I still support the men that were involved and I believe they acted appropriately.”
Chandler to Pay $1.1M for Officer Shooting of 17-Year-Old Anthony Cano
MICHAEL MCDANIEL JUNE 25, 2021
The family of Anthony Cano, a 17-year-old boy fatally shot by a police officer in Chandler, has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city for over $1 million, bringing a legal battle to a quick end.
Under the settlement approved on Thursday by the Chandler City Council, Cano's mother, Renee Clum, will receive $1 million; Cano's father, Anthony Cano Sr., will receive $125,000.
The city admits no fault under the settlement, and the officer involved, Chase Bebak-Miller, continues to serve pending an internal investigation from the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, according to Chandler spokesperson Matthew Burdick.
The shooting happened on January 2 at around 9 p.m., when the officer attempted to stop Cano for riding his bike in the road without a taillight. A foot chase ensued, leading Cano and Babak-Miller into a park. Cano then dropped a gun and attempted to pick it up.
Bebak-Miller shot Cano within seconds of commanding him to get on the ground. Cano laid facedown, incapacitated after the shot when Babak-Miller decided to shoot again. The shots were one-to-two seconds apart.
The city of Chandler released edited bodycam footage of the shooting in January, then released the extended body cam footage in March under pressure from the public.
In the extended bodycam footage, the Babak-Miller can be heard telling the boy to put his hands behind his back, to which Cano replied, “I'm sorry, sir. I can't." Cano also told him that he had tried to throw away the handgun, a stolen, loaded 9mm, to which the officer replied, "that was stupid."
As Cano was being handcuffed, he said “I don't want to die.”
The words sent shockwaves through Chandler, which spurred protests at Chandler City Hall throughout the ensuing weeks.
In March, five people were arrested in Chandler during a Cano protest (see video of the arrests below.)
For friends and family, the focus shifts to Bebak-Miller’s investigation.
“The fight will continue,” said Phil Martinez, a Phoenix-area activist who is close to the family.
MICHAEL MCDANIEL JUNE 25, 2021
The family of Anthony Cano, a 17-year-old boy fatally shot by a police officer in Chandler, has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city for over $1 million, bringing a legal battle to a quick end.
Under the settlement approved on Thursday by the Chandler City Council, Cano's mother, Renee Clum, will receive $1 million; Cano's father, Anthony Cano Sr., will receive $125,000.
The city admits no fault under the settlement, and the officer involved, Chase Bebak-Miller, continues to serve pending an internal investigation from the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, according to Chandler spokesperson Matthew Burdick.
The shooting happened on January 2 at around 9 p.m., when the officer attempted to stop Cano for riding his bike in the road without a taillight. A foot chase ensued, leading Cano and Babak-Miller into a park. Cano then dropped a gun and attempted to pick it up.
Bebak-Miller shot Cano within seconds of commanding him to get on the ground. Cano laid facedown, incapacitated after the shot when Babak-Miller decided to shoot again. The shots were one-to-two seconds apart.
The city of Chandler released edited bodycam footage of the shooting in January, then released the extended body cam footage in March under pressure from the public.
In the extended bodycam footage, the Babak-Miller can be heard telling the boy to put his hands behind his back, to which Cano replied, “I'm sorry, sir. I can't." Cano also told him that he had tried to throw away the handgun, a stolen, loaded 9mm, to which the officer replied, "that was stupid."
As Cano was being handcuffed, he said “I don't want to die.”
The words sent shockwaves through Chandler, which spurred protests at Chandler City Hall throughout the ensuing weeks.
In March, five people were arrested in Chandler during a Cano protest (see video of the arrests below.)
For friends and family, the focus shifts to Bebak-Miller’s investigation.
“The fight will continue,” said Phil Martinez, a Phoenix-area activist who is close to the family.
$100K settlement reached for toddler shot by Kansas City police officer: court records
Oct. 20—A federal judge has approved a $100,000 settlement for a toddler shot in the foot six years ago by an on-duty Kansas City police officer who fired his service weapon into a car that was evading capture, according to court records.
The officer fired nine rounds, hitting a 1-year-old girl, in August 2015.
The child's mother will receive a $10,000 lump sum for child care plus $33,000 for attorney expenses under the settlement agreement, which stems from a civil lawsuit filed Oct. 27, 2020 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The remaining money is to be paid into an annuity for the child over three installments beginning in August 2031.
The settlement agreement, approved by Judge Greg Kays on Friday, also releases the defendants — the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and Kansas City police officer Terrence Brown — from future legal claims related to the shooting.
Sgt. Jake Becchina, a police spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the department trains its officers "regularly and consistently to respond to rapidly evolving dangerous situations and bring them to a safe resolution while minimizing the risk to the community and the officers involved."
"The injuries that resulted from this incident are unfortunate, and we are sorry for the pain this family has experienced," Becchina said.
According to court records, the shooting occurred on Aug. 28, 2015. Brown, an officer with the Kansas City Police Department's motorcycle unit, attempted to stop a Dodge Magnum on U.S. 71 Highway that was flagged for speeding, the lawsuit says.
Brown ended the pursuit after losing sight of the car but was later alerted by a bystander on the side of the road that it had gone down 53rd Street, according to court records. After arriving at 53rd Street and Wabash Avenue, the lawsuit says, Brown saw the Dodge again and fired upon the car as it drove on Wabash Avenue.
According to the lawsuit, Brown said at the time that the Dodge was traveling in his direction and that "fearing for his safety, dropped his motorcycle, drew his duty weapon and fired" at the car before it struck his motorcycle.
A then-1-year-old girl was struck in the foot by one of the bullets, the lawsuit says, the day before she turned two. She required surgery. Medical bills, paid through Missouri Medicaid, amounted to roughly $37,000, court records show.
The driver of the car and father of the shooting victim, Pierre C. Hill-Williams, was later charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with attempted assault on a law enforcement officer. He pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence with five years probation, court records show.
An investigation referenced in the lawsuit determined nine rounds were fired at the car by Brown. Bullets that entered the car came in through the rear or passenger side, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also claimed that the officer's account of what transpired was contradicted by witnesses and physical evidence. One witness told investigators he did not know "if they were trying to run him over or just trying to get away," the lawsuit says. Another witness said the car had turned away from Brown and "couldn't have hit the officer," according to the lawsuit.
Also questioned by the lawsuit was some of the physical evidence collected at the scene. It says the scene reconstructions and other physical evidence reports suggest the car was fired upon as it was in flight, and that the car never struck the police motorcycle.
The lawsuit challenged the contention that Brown was "in any reasonable fear for his life or safety, nor could he have been reasonably concerned that the occupants (of the car) would cause harm to him or others." And it claims Brown acted outside of Kansas City police policy by firing at the car.
It remains unclear whether Brown faced any discipline from the department related to the shooting. Becchina, the police spokesman, said the department cannot disclose information regarding internal investigations or officer discipline under Missouri's public records law.
Brown remains assigned to the patrol bureau. He has been a Kansas City police officer since September 2009.
Oct. 20—A federal judge has approved a $100,000 settlement for a toddler shot in the foot six years ago by an on-duty Kansas City police officer who fired his service weapon into a car that was evading capture, according to court records.
The officer fired nine rounds, hitting a 1-year-old girl, in August 2015.
The child's mother will receive a $10,000 lump sum for child care plus $33,000 for attorney expenses under the settlement agreement, which stems from a civil lawsuit filed Oct. 27, 2020 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The remaining money is to be paid into an annuity for the child over three installments beginning in August 2031.
The settlement agreement, approved by Judge Greg Kays on Friday, also releases the defendants — the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and Kansas City police officer Terrence Brown — from future legal claims related to the shooting.
Sgt. Jake Becchina, a police spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the department trains its officers "regularly and consistently to respond to rapidly evolving dangerous situations and bring them to a safe resolution while minimizing the risk to the community and the officers involved."
"The injuries that resulted from this incident are unfortunate, and we are sorry for the pain this family has experienced," Becchina said.
According to court records, the shooting occurred on Aug. 28, 2015. Brown, an officer with the Kansas City Police Department's motorcycle unit, attempted to stop a Dodge Magnum on U.S. 71 Highway that was flagged for speeding, the lawsuit says.
Brown ended the pursuit after losing sight of the car but was later alerted by a bystander on the side of the road that it had gone down 53rd Street, according to court records. After arriving at 53rd Street and Wabash Avenue, the lawsuit says, Brown saw the Dodge again and fired upon the car as it drove on Wabash Avenue.
According to the lawsuit, Brown said at the time that the Dodge was traveling in his direction and that "fearing for his safety, dropped his motorcycle, drew his duty weapon and fired" at the car before it struck his motorcycle.
A then-1-year-old girl was struck in the foot by one of the bullets, the lawsuit says, the day before she turned two. She required surgery. Medical bills, paid through Missouri Medicaid, amounted to roughly $37,000, court records show.
The driver of the car and father of the shooting victim, Pierre C. Hill-Williams, was later charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with attempted assault on a law enforcement officer. He pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence with five years probation, court records show.
An investigation referenced in the lawsuit determined nine rounds were fired at the car by Brown. Bullets that entered the car came in through the rear or passenger side, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also claimed that the officer's account of what transpired was contradicted by witnesses and physical evidence. One witness told investigators he did not know "if they were trying to run him over or just trying to get away," the lawsuit says. Another witness said the car had turned away from Brown and "couldn't have hit the officer," according to the lawsuit.
Also questioned by the lawsuit was some of the physical evidence collected at the scene. It says the scene reconstructions and other physical evidence reports suggest the car was fired upon as it was in flight, and that the car never struck the police motorcycle.
The lawsuit challenged the contention that Brown was "in any reasonable fear for his life or safety, nor could he have been reasonably concerned that the occupants (of the car) would cause harm to him or others." And it claims Brown acted outside of Kansas City police policy by firing at the car.
It remains unclear whether Brown faced any discipline from the department related to the shooting. Becchina, the police spokesman, said the department cannot disclose information regarding internal investigations or officer discipline under Missouri's public records law.
Brown remains assigned to the patrol bureau. He has been a Kansas City police officer since September 2009.
Baltimore County to pay $6.5 million to family of unarmed man fatally shot by police officer, man’s family says
Killing of Eric Sopp results in second multimillion-dollar settlement paid by Baltimore County for police shooting in the past two months
Less than two years after a Baltimore County police officer fatally shot an unarmed man on Interstate 83, the county has agreed to pay the man’s family $6.5 million, attorneys said Tuesday. The payment is the second multimillion-dollar settlement paid by Baltimore County in the past two months over a police killing.
After a day of drinking, Eric Sopp, 48, argued loudly with his mother and then stormed out of their house in the Parkton area on Nov. 26, 2019. His mother, Catherine Sopp, called 911 to report that her son was driving drunk and could be a danger to others. A recording of her call shows she told the call-taker that he had threatened to kill himself with an ice pick, but had not taken it with him.
Not long after, Officer Gregory A. Page, 48, spotted Sopp’s red Toyota Camry in a shopping center parking lot, followed him onto I-83 and signaled for him to pull over. Page’s body camera captured the rest.
Page exited his cruiser with his gun drawn, approaching on the passenger side and yelling at Sopp to put the car in park and place his hands on the dash. “No!” Sopp shouted back. Then Sopp can be heard saying he was getting out of the car. The officer told him not to get out, then moved to the driver’s side. As Sopp stood up, Page fired eight shots, killing the unarmed Sopp. A second officer on the scene did not shoot.
“As a result of not being trained properly and using the force he did,” Catherine Sopp said in an interview Tuesday, “he murdered my son and the father of two children. We all continue to grieve Eric. Eric is irreplaceable. No amount of settlement will ever replace him. … All this has caused my family much grief and stress, and cost me my health.”
Officials with Baltimore County police said Tuesday that Page remains on the force but declined to comment further. The county attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
In August, Baltimore County paid $3 million to settle the lawsuit filed by the family of Korryn Gaines, who was killed by tactical officers after a standoff in 2016 that Gaines partially streamed live on Facebook. Gaines, whose 5-year-old son was in her lap, was holding a shotgun. The boy was wounded by police but survived. A jury initially awarded Gaines’s family $37 million after a wrongful-death civil trial in 2018, which was first overturned, then reinstated by an appeals court.
The federal civil rights and wrongful-death suit filed by Sopp’s family last year noted that Baltimore County police shot and killed two other men in mental health crises in 2019: Scott William Robertson, who had a gun and was fatally shot after failing to comply with officers’ commands, and Emanuel Oates, shot while carrying a machete after police chased him into a grocery.
“The problem with Baltimore County,” said Chelsea J. Crawford, one of the Sopp family’s lawyers, “is that the ways police interact with people in emotional distress or mental health crisis has got to change. Eric was one of a long line of people in Baltimore County that ended up dead after interaction with Baltimore County police. They need to strengthen their crisis-intervention programs. Only through that investment will we see meaningful change.”
Eric Sopp grew up in northern Maryland as the youngest of three boys and graduated from Hereford High School and the University of Maryland. He became a high school math teacher but also developed alcoholism, his mother said, and in the years before his death had begun working as an addiction counselor, trying to help others through his own experience. He was divorced with two children.
But he had not overcome his own problems, and had been on an extended drinking binge in late November 2019, his mother said, so she hid his car keys. But on the night of Nov. 26, Eric Sopp demanded the keys and became angry with his mother, smashing a portable phone and placing an ice pick to his neck, threatening to commit suicide, his mother said.
She said he tossed the ice pick back into a drawer as she reluctantly gave him the car keys. As he drove off, she dialed 911 and told the call-taker her son was driving drunk and could cause an accident. She also said he no longer had the ice pick.
“When I called 911,” Catherine Sopp said, “I thought he would receive help. Instead it cost him his life. And I feel this was due to the lack of proper training in how to approach and treat people in crisis.”
After Eric Sopp pulled over on I-83, officers Page and Raymond Wheeler approached his car, with Page yelling commands at Sopp and Sopp seeming to resist. When Sopp got out of the car despite the officers ordering him not to, Page quickly fatally shot him.
“In no way, shape or form was Eric a threat to anyone at that point,” family attorney Andrew D. Freeman said. He said officers had been alerted that Sopp was suicidal and should have waited for “someone trained to deal with it from mobile crisis. Instead, Officer Page pulled his gun out, was shouting at Eric, and killed Eric in less than a minute. Completely avoidable, but something all of us hope Baltimore County will learn a lesson from and behave differently in the future.”
Baltimore County prosecutors did not see a legal problem with the shooting. Deputy State’s Attorney Robin S. Coffin ruled on Dec. 16, 2019, three weeks after the shooting, that Sopp’s “erratic behavior, his charge out of the car and knowing that the suspect was suicidal placed Officer Page in a highly dangerous situation. The shooting of Eric Sopp was tragic, but justified under these circumstances.”
“I don’t think Officer Page was punished in any way,” Catherine Sopp said. “I just think he’s gotten away scot free. He’s still out there, and in my eyes, he’s a threat.”
Page did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The settlement will be divided equally between Catherine Sopp and Eric Sopp’s two children, the family’s lawyers said.
“It doesn’t appear Officer Page had any crisis intervention training,” Crawford said, “or the other officer out there, Raymond Wheeler. That in and of itself is a problem, that there are officers who are responding to individuals who are known to be in distress without training. When the dispatcher learned that he was suicidal and in mental health distress, mobile crisis should have been sent to the scene before Officer Page attempted to deal with him.”
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Killing of Eric Sopp results in second multimillion-dollar settlement paid by Baltimore County for police shooting in the past two months
Less than two years after a Baltimore County police officer fatally shot an unarmed man on Interstate 83, the county has agreed to pay the man’s family $6.5 million, attorneys said Tuesday. The payment is the second multimillion-dollar settlement paid by Baltimore County in the past two months over a police killing.
After a day of drinking, Eric Sopp, 48, argued loudly with his mother and then stormed out of their house in the Parkton area on Nov. 26, 2019. His mother, Catherine Sopp, called 911 to report that her son was driving drunk and could be a danger to others. A recording of her call shows she told the call-taker that he had threatened to kill himself with an ice pick, but had not taken it with him.
Not long after, Officer Gregory A. Page, 48, spotted Sopp’s red Toyota Camry in a shopping center parking lot, followed him onto I-83 and signaled for him to pull over. Page’s body camera captured the rest.
Page exited his cruiser with his gun drawn, approaching on the passenger side and yelling at Sopp to put the car in park and place his hands on the dash. “No!” Sopp shouted back. Then Sopp can be heard saying he was getting out of the car. The officer told him not to get out, then moved to the driver’s side. As Sopp stood up, Page fired eight shots, killing the unarmed Sopp. A second officer on the scene did not shoot.
“As a result of not being trained properly and using the force he did,” Catherine Sopp said in an interview Tuesday, “he murdered my son and the father of two children. We all continue to grieve Eric. Eric is irreplaceable. No amount of settlement will ever replace him. … All this has caused my family much grief and stress, and cost me my health.”
Officials with Baltimore County police said Tuesday that Page remains on the force but declined to comment further. The county attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
In August, Baltimore County paid $3 million to settle the lawsuit filed by the family of Korryn Gaines, who was killed by tactical officers after a standoff in 2016 that Gaines partially streamed live on Facebook. Gaines, whose 5-year-old son was in her lap, was holding a shotgun. The boy was wounded by police but survived. A jury initially awarded Gaines’s family $37 million after a wrongful-death civil trial in 2018, which was first overturned, then reinstated by an appeals court.
The federal civil rights and wrongful-death suit filed by Sopp’s family last year noted that Baltimore County police shot and killed two other men in mental health crises in 2019: Scott William Robertson, who had a gun and was fatally shot after failing to comply with officers’ commands, and Emanuel Oates, shot while carrying a machete after police chased him into a grocery.
“The problem with Baltimore County,” said Chelsea J. Crawford, one of the Sopp family’s lawyers, “is that the ways police interact with people in emotional distress or mental health crisis has got to change. Eric was one of a long line of people in Baltimore County that ended up dead after interaction with Baltimore County police. They need to strengthen their crisis-intervention programs. Only through that investment will we see meaningful change.”
Eric Sopp grew up in northern Maryland as the youngest of three boys and graduated from Hereford High School and the University of Maryland. He became a high school math teacher but also developed alcoholism, his mother said, and in the years before his death had begun working as an addiction counselor, trying to help others through his own experience. He was divorced with two children.
But he had not overcome his own problems, and had been on an extended drinking binge in late November 2019, his mother said, so she hid his car keys. But on the night of Nov. 26, Eric Sopp demanded the keys and became angry with his mother, smashing a portable phone and placing an ice pick to his neck, threatening to commit suicide, his mother said.
She said he tossed the ice pick back into a drawer as she reluctantly gave him the car keys. As he drove off, she dialed 911 and told the call-taker her son was driving drunk and could cause an accident. She also said he no longer had the ice pick.
“When I called 911,” Catherine Sopp said, “I thought he would receive help. Instead it cost him his life. And I feel this was due to the lack of proper training in how to approach and treat people in crisis.”
After Eric Sopp pulled over on I-83, officers Page and Raymond Wheeler approached his car, with Page yelling commands at Sopp and Sopp seeming to resist. When Sopp got out of the car despite the officers ordering him not to, Page quickly fatally shot him.
“In no way, shape or form was Eric a threat to anyone at that point,” family attorney Andrew D. Freeman said. He said officers had been alerted that Sopp was suicidal and should have waited for “someone trained to deal with it from mobile crisis. Instead, Officer Page pulled his gun out, was shouting at Eric, and killed Eric in less than a minute. Completely avoidable, but something all of us hope Baltimore County will learn a lesson from and behave differently in the future.”
Baltimore County prosecutors did not see a legal problem with the shooting. Deputy State’s Attorney Robin S. Coffin ruled on Dec. 16, 2019, three weeks after the shooting, that Sopp’s “erratic behavior, his charge out of the car and knowing that the suspect was suicidal placed Officer Page in a highly dangerous situation. The shooting of Eric Sopp was tragic, but justified under these circumstances.”
“I don’t think Officer Page was punished in any way,” Catherine Sopp said. “I just think he’s gotten away scot free. He’s still out there, and in my eyes, he’s a threat.”
Page did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The settlement will be divided equally between Catherine Sopp and Eric Sopp’s two children, the family’s lawyers said.
“It doesn’t appear Officer Page had any crisis intervention training,” Crawford said, “or the other officer out there, Raymond Wheeler. That in and of itself is a problem, that there are officers who are responding to individuals who are known to be in distress without training. When the dispatcher learned that he was suicidal and in mental health distress, mobile crisis should have been sent to the scene before Officer Page attempted to deal with him.”
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Jury awards $2.5 million to unarmed man shot in back by Denver police in 2013
Verdict in favor of Michael Valdez ends six years of litigation against city, police officers
A jury awarded a Denver man more than $2.5 million in damages after concluding a police officer used excessive force in 2013 when he shot the man in the back while the man was lying facedown on the ground with his hands on his head.
The jury awarded the damages to Michael Valdez late last month after a nine-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court of Colorado. Valdez filed the lawsuit against the city of Denver and five individual police officers in 2015, two years after the shooting that left Valdez with an amputated finger, injuries to his bowels and multiple fractures in his back.
Valdez’s attorneys later focused the lawsuit on one officer — Sgt. Robert Motyka — and dismissed the claims against the other Denver officers. The jury found that Motyka’s excessive force violated Valdez’s constitutional rights and that the city failed to properly train Motyka.
“Officer training is taken seriously in Denver,” Jacqlin Davis, a spokeswoman for the Denver City Attorney’s Office, said in a statement. “The city is still reviewing the case to determine its next legal steps.”
Davis noted in her statement that Motyka could not participate in the first week of trial due to “COVID restrictions” but did not elaborate when asked to provide more details. Court records show Motyka tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 8 and that the judge declined to reschedule the trial that began Sept. 13.
The jurors in their Sept. 23 verdict awarded $131,000 in damages against Motyka and $2.4 million against Denver. Davis also did not answer questions about whether the city would pay the damages against Motyka, who was sued as an individual and represented by the city’s attorneys throughout the case.
Valdez on Jan. 16, 2013, accepted a ride from a friend without knowing that the friend and the red truck he was driving were wanted by Denver police, the lawsuit states. Valdez was in the truck with his friend and three others when police began to pursue the truck. Police said that the people inside the truck fired at pursuing officers.
Valdez was a helpless victim during the chase and had no part in the alleged crime for which his friend was wanted, according to the lawsuit.
The driver crashed the truck and Valdez exited the vehicle with his hands in the air a few minutes after the crash. He laid down on the ground with his arms extended, but moved his hands to his head when gunfire began. One of the people in the truck fired at officers, injuring Motyka, and officers returned fired. One of the people in the truck, John Montoya, was shot and killed by police.
Motyka shot Valdez in his back during the shootout and an unidentified officer shot him in the finger. When the lawsuit was filed two years later, Valdez still struggled to walk and endured constant pain.
Denver prosecutors charged Valdez with several felonies — including attempted first-degree murder — in connection to the incident, despite the fact that Valdez never possessed a weapon. Valdez could not post bail and was held in jail for more than two months “in agonizing pain and without the use of his lower limbs” until prosecutors dismissed all charges against him, the lawsuit states.
Police first described the incident as a rampage and said that all occupants in the truck “displayed a propensity for violence.” The Denver Police Foundation in 2015 awarded Motyka and the other officers on scene with commendations for their actions in the shooting. Motyka was awarded the Denver Police Department’s Medal of Honor.
Valdez’s attorneys in their lawsuit pointed to a previous incident involving Motyka as evidence that the city failed to train or discipline its officers.
Motyka and three other Denver police officers were sued in 2011 for entering a home and wrongly arresting innocent people whom they incorrectly believed to be drug dealers. The alleged dealers had previously moved from the rental home and the people the officers arrested were the new tenants. A jury awarded the family $1.8 million in that case.
“Denver’s failure to properly hire, train, supervise and discipline its officers was a moving force of the constitutional violations alleged herein and was a direct and proximate cause of Mr. Valdez’s injuries,” the lawsuit filed by Valdez states. “As a direct result of Defendants’ actions, Mr. Valdez suffered humiliation, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and other significant injuries, damages and losses.”
Verdict in favor of Michael Valdez ends six years of litigation against city, police officers
A jury awarded a Denver man more than $2.5 million in damages after concluding a police officer used excessive force in 2013 when he shot the man in the back while the man was lying facedown on the ground with his hands on his head.
The jury awarded the damages to Michael Valdez late last month after a nine-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court of Colorado. Valdez filed the lawsuit against the city of Denver and five individual police officers in 2015, two years after the shooting that left Valdez with an amputated finger, injuries to his bowels and multiple fractures in his back.
Valdez’s attorneys later focused the lawsuit on one officer — Sgt. Robert Motyka — and dismissed the claims against the other Denver officers. The jury found that Motyka’s excessive force violated Valdez’s constitutional rights and that the city failed to properly train Motyka.
“Officer training is taken seriously in Denver,” Jacqlin Davis, a spokeswoman for the Denver City Attorney’s Office, said in a statement. “The city is still reviewing the case to determine its next legal steps.”
Davis noted in her statement that Motyka could not participate in the first week of trial due to “COVID restrictions” but did not elaborate when asked to provide more details. Court records show Motyka tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 8 and that the judge declined to reschedule the trial that began Sept. 13.
The jurors in their Sept. 23 verdict awarded $131,000 in damages against Motyka and $2.4 million against Denver. Davis also did not answer questions about whether the city would pay the damages against Motyka, who was sued as an individual and represented by the city’s attorneys throughout the case.
Valdez on Jan. 16, 2013, accepted a ride from a friend without knowing that the friend and the red truck he was driving were wanted by Denver police, the lawsuit states. Valdez was in the truck with his friend and three others when police began to pursue the truck. Police said that the people inside the truck fired at pursuing officers.
Valdez was a helpless victim during the chase and had no part in the alleged crime for which his friend was wanted, according to the lawsuit.
The driver crashed the truck and Valdez exited the vehicle with his hands in the air a few minutes after the crash. He laid down on the ground with his arms extended, but moved his hands to his head when gunfire began. One of the people in the truck fired at officers, injuring Motyka, and officers returned fired. One of the people in the truck, John Montoya, was shot and killed by police.
Motyka shot Valdez in his back during the shootout and an unidentified officer shot him in the finger. When the lawsuit was filed two years later, Valdez still struggled to walk and endured constant pain.
Denver prosecutors charged Valdez with several felonies — including attempted first-degree murder — in connection to the incident, despite the fact that Valdez never possessed a weapon. Valdez could not post bail and was held in jail for more than two months “in agonizing pain and without the use of his lower limbs” until prosecutors dismissed all charges against him, the lawsuit states.
Police first described the incident as a rampage and said that all occupants in the truck “displayed a propensity for violence.” The Denver Police Foundation in 2015 awarded Motyka and the other officers on scene with commendations for their actions in the shooting. Motyka was awarded the Denver Police Department’s Medal of Honor.
Valdez’s attorneys in their lawsuit pointed to a previous incident involving Motyka as evidence that the city failed to train or discipline its officers.
Motyka and three other Denver police officers were sued in 2011 for entering a home and wrongly arresting innocent people whom they incorrectly believed to be drug dealers. The alleged dealers had previously moved from the rental home and the people the officers arrested were the new tenants. A jury awarded the family $1.8 million in that case.
“Denver’s failure to properly hire, train, supervise and discipline its officers was a moving force of the constitutional violations alleged herein and was a direct and proximate cause of Mr. Valdez’s injuries,” the lawsuit filed by Valdez states. “As a direct result of Defendants’ actions, Mr. Valdez suffered humiliation, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and other significant injuries, damages and losses.”
Tentative settlement $300,000 between Little Rock and Bradley Blackshire's estate; Municipal League will foot most of sum
A proposed $300,000 settlement meant to end litigation brought against Little Rock by the estate of Bradley Blackshire, who was killed by then-officer Charles Starks in 2019, would have the Arkansas Municipal League pay $250,500 and the city pay $49,500 to settle all claims, a Municipal League official said Monday.
The group's general counsel, John Wilkerson, described the proposed settlement's monetary terms -- as well as certain nonmonetary provisions -- in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Monday.
A proposed $300,000 settlement meant to end litigation brought against Little Rock by the estate of Bradley Blackshire, who was killed by then-officer Charles Starks in 2019, would have the Arkansas Municipal League pay $250,500 and the city pay $49,500 to settle all claims, a Municipal League official said Monday.
The group's general counsel, John Wilkerson, described the proposed settlement's monetary terms -- as well as certain nonmonetary provisions -- in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Monday.
Ex-D.C. firefighter to receive $390,000 from Fairfax County over wrongful arrest
Elon Wilson spent 21 months in prison after being wrongly pulled over by then-Officer Jonathan A. Freitag
October 11, 2021|Updated October 11, 2021 at 6:17 p.m. EDT
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A former D.C. firefighter, who spent almost two years in prison after a wrongful arrest by a Fairfax County police officer, will receive $390,000 from Fairfax to settle the federal lawsuit he filed in July, his lawyers said Monday.
Elon Wilson, now 27, was driving with his teenage cousin in the Rose Hill area of eastern Fairfax when he was pulled over by then-Officer Jonathan A. Freitag early one morning in April 2018. Wilson was arrested after the officer found a large quantity of oxycodone and two loaded handguns, which Wilson claimed were not his, in the car. He was fired from the D.C. fire department, accepted a plea deal while facing a 10-year minimum sentence and was sentenced in July 2019 to three years and one month in prison.
But that same month, Fairfax internal affairs investigators began looking into Freitag’s traffic stops as a result of citizen complaints, and they watched the in-car videos of the young officer’s work on the streets, documents provided by Freitag’s lawyers show. In September 2019, Freitag, then 23, admitted to internal affairs he had made numerous “pretextual” traffic stops, in which an officer uses a false reason to pull someone over and search or arrest them. Freitag, an officer for three years, was placed on paid administrative duty while the police continued to investigate him.
Wilson’s lawyer, Marvin D. Miller, filed a motion in February 2020 seeking information about the investigation into Freitag. Internal investigators then pressed Freitag about the case the following month, challenging his claims that Wilson had crossed the yellow line on the road, failed to pull over when signaled and had illegally tinted windows, court records show. Facing a recommended termination, Freitag resigned in May 2020 and was hired three months later as a deputy by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. Brevard said Fairfax had not disclosed Freitag’s true employment history despite numerous inquiries. Brevard fired Freitag on April 1.
Miller’s motion turned into a case for Wilson’s release, supported by Fairfax prosecutors. In April of this year, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Daniel E. Ortiz vacated Wilson’s convictions and ordered him freed, saying “Freitag’s fabricated grounds for the stop, police report, and warrant made under oath fundamentally tampered with the judicial machinery and subverted the integrity of the court itself.” Wilson was released after serving 21 months.
Freitag strongly defended his actions in two separate interviews and falsely asserted that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Fairfax police. Told that Fairfax prosecutors had said in a court filing that the FBI was investigating him for possible criminal activity, Freitag said in June 2020, “This is all news to me, I was cleared of any criminal misconduct.” No criminal charges have been filed.
On the same day that Wilson was released in April of this year, Freitag was arrested in Brevard County for allegedly crashing his vehicle into another, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence, court records show. His case there is pending.
Miller and Alexandria civil rights lawyer Victor M. Glasberg filed a federal suit against Fairfax on Wilson’s behalf in July, raising the possibility of a class action if it could be shown that Fairfax police engaged in a “custom, practice, or usage” of making pretextual or illegal traffic stops. But before Fairfax even filed a response to the suit, it entered into settlement negotiations and agreed to the $390,000 settlement on Oct. 7, both sides said.
“Fairfax County has reached a $390,000 settlement in the case brought by Elon Wilson,” county spokesman Anthony Castrilli said, “to reimburse him for economic losses as a result of his arrest and incarceration.” Castrilli said Fairfax police continually train and instruct officers “that constitutional grounds must exist for any stop” and that the department “acted quickly to investigate when it became aware of the allegations that former officer Freitag had been engaged in unconstitutional stops.”
Through his attorneys, Wilson declined to be interviewed. Miller said that Wilson was “holding up okay” and that the settlement will “help him establish a stable footing. This case has been a tragedy in his life that was needless …ultimately, however, the facts came out and the right result was obtained, after a while, and the county recognized they had an obligation to him and they satisfied it.”
Freitag and his lawyer in the federal suit, David J. Fudala, did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
After word of the internal investigation into Freitag first reached prosecutors in September 2019, they dismissed 21 pending cases, including one in which a man was charged with felony assault on Freitag. But prosecutors counted about 400 convictions in cases brought by Freitag during his three years as a patrol officer, mostly traffic and misdemeanors, and said in April they would move to vacate all of those convictions. The process to do so is convoluted, however, and none have been vacated yet. Wilson was the only defendant still incarcerated as a result of a Freitag case when he was released.
“We continue to actively pursue a remedy to the 400 convictions associated with Officer Freitag,” Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve T. Descano said, “despite the fact that Virginia law affords us shamefully few avenues for doing so. In addition to working through the voluminous amount of material necessary to get these cases in front of the court, I am also working with our partners in state government to provide additional tools to prosecutors in the coming legislative session to address unjust convictions in such instances.”
Elon Wilson spent 21 months in prison after being wrongly pulled over by then-Officer Jonathan A. Freitag
October 11, 2021|Updated October 11, 2021 at 6:17 p.m. EDT
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A former D.C. firefighter, who spent almost two years in prison after a wrongful arrest by a Fairfax County police officer, will receive $390,000 from Fairfax to settle the federal lawsuit he filed in July, his lawyers said Monday.
Elon Wilson, now 27, was driving with his teenage cousin in the Rose Hill area of eastern Fairfax when he was pulled over by then-Officer Jonathan A. Freitag early one morning in April 2018. Wilson was arrested after the officer found a large quantity of oxycodone and two loaded handguns, which Wilson claimed were not his, in the car. He was fired from the D.C. fire department, accepted a plea deal while facing a 10-year minimum sentence and was sentenced in July 2019 to three years and one month in prison.
But that same month, Fairfax internal affairs investigators began looking into Freitag’s traffic stops as a result of citizen complaints, and they watched the in-car videos of the young officer’s work on the streets, documents provided by Freitag’s lawyers show. In September 2019, Freitag, then 23, admitted to internal affairs he had made numerous “pretextual” traffic stops, in which an officer uses a false reason to pull someone over and search or arrest them. Freitag, an officer for three years, was placed on paid administrative duty while the police continued to investigate him.
Wilson’s lawyer, Marvin D. Miller, filed a motion in February 2020 seeking information about the investigation into Freitag. Internal investigators then pressed Freitag about the case the following month, challenging his claims that Wilson had crossed the yellow line on the road, failed to pull over when signaled and had illegally tinted windows, court records show. Facing a recommended termination, Freitag resigned in May 2020 and was hired three months later as a deputy by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. Brevard said Fairfax had not disclosed Freitag’s true employment history despite numerous inquiries. Brevard fired Freitag on April 1.
Miller’s motion turned into a case for Wilson’s release, supported by Fairfax prosecutors. In April of this year, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Daniel E. Ortiz vacated Wilson’s convictions and ordered him freed, saying “Freitag’s fabricated grounds for the stop, police report, and warrant made under oath fundamentally tampered with the judicial machinery and subverted the integrity of the court itself.” Wilson was released after serving 21 months.
Freitag strongly defended his actions in two separate interviews and falsely asserted that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Fairfax police. Told that Fairfax prosecutors had said in a court filing that the FBI was investigating him for possible criminal activity, Freitag said in June 2020, “This is all news to me, I was cleared of any criminal misconduct.” No criminal charges have been filed.
On the same day that Wilson was released in April of this year, Freitag was arrested in Brevard County for allegedly crashing his vehicle into another, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence, court records show. His case there is pending.
Miller and Alexandria civil rights lawyer Victor M. Glasberg filed a federal suit against Fairfax on Wilson’s behalf in July, raising the possibility of a class action if it could be shown that Fairfax police engaged in a “custom, practice, or usage” of making pretextual or illegal traffic stops. But before Fairfax even filed a response to the suit, it entered into settlement negotiations and agreed to the $390,000 settlement on Oct. 7, both sides said.
“Fairfax County has reached a $390,000 settlement in the case brought by Elon Wilson,” county spokesman Anthony Castrilli said, “to reimburse him for economic losses as a result of his arrest and incarceration.” Castrilli said Fairfax police continually train and instruct officers “that constitutional grounds must exist for any stop” and that the department “acted quickly to investigate when it became aware of the allegations that former officer Freitag had been engaged in unconstitutional stops.”
Through his attorneys, Wilson declined to be interviewed. Miller said that Wilson was “holding up okay” and that the settlement will “help him establish a stable footing. This case has been a tragedy in his life that was needless …ultimately, however, the facts came out and the right result was obtained, after a while, and the county recognized they had an obligation to him and they satisfied it.”
Freitag and his lawyer in the federal suit, David J. Fudala, did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
After word of the internal investigation into Freitag first reached prosecutors in September 2019, they dismissed 21 pending cases, including one in which a man was charged with felony assault on Freitag. But prosecutors counted about 400 convictions in cases brought by Freitag during his three years as a patrol officer, mostly traffic and misdemeanors, and said in April they would move to vacate all of those convictions. The process to do so is convoluted, however, and none have been vacated yet. Wilson was the only defendant still incarcerated as a result of a Freitag case when he was released.
“We continue to actively pursue a remedy to the 400 convictions associated with Officer Freitag,” Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve T. Descano said, “despite the fact that Virginia law affords us shamefully few avenues for doing so. In addition to working through the voluminous amount of material necessary to get these cases in front of the court, I am also working with our partners in state government to provide additional tools to prosecutors in the coming legislative session to address unjust convictions in such instances.”
City of Seattle Pays $515,000 Settlement in Police Shooting
The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $515,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit filed by the estate of a man who was shot and killed by police on New Year’s Eve 2018.
By Associated Press
|
Oct. 14, 2021, at 8:28 a.m.
SEATTLE (AP) — The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $515,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit filed by the estate of Iosia Faletogo, who was shot and killed by police after a foot chase across Aurora Avenue North on New Year’s Eve 2018.
Faletogo’s last words, caught on police body cameras — “Nope, not reaching!” — became a rallying cry for protesters against police racism and violence in the weeks after the killing, the Seattle Times reported.
The department’s civilian-run Office of Police Accountability found the officers’ actions justified. Graphic body-camera video appeared to show Faletogo had dropped a handgun in a struggle with officers and was unarmed just before the fatal shot was fired.
The video showed Faletogo on his hands and knees saying, “Nope, not reaching,” referring to the handgun that was on the ground.
The settlement approved Wednesday would divide the money between the estate’s attorneys and Faletogo’s two minor children.
Nate Bingham, a Seattle attorney representing Faletogo’s estate, said the family and Faletogo’s mother, Lisa Elisara, would not have any immediate comment.
A message sent Wednesday seeking comment from the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, which defended the city in the lawsuit, was not immediately returned.
The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $515,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit filed by the estate of a man who was shot and killed by police on New Year’s Eve 2018.
By Associated Press
|
Oct. 14, 2021, at 8:28 a.m.
SEATTLE (AP) — The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $515,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit filed by the estate of Iosia Faletogo, who was shot and killed by police after a foot chase across Aurora Avenue North on New Year’s Eve 2018.
Faletogo’s last words, caught on police body cameras — “Nope, not reaching!” — became a rallying cry for protesters against police racism and violence in the weeks after the killing, the Seattle Times reported.
The department’s civilian-run Office of Police Accountability found the officers’ actions justified. Graphic body-camera video appeared to show Faletogo had dropped a handgun in a struggle with officers and was unarmed just before the fatal shot was fired.
The video showed Faletogo on his hands and knees saying, “Nope, not reaching,” referring to the handgun that was on the ground.
The settlement approved Wednesday would divide the money between the estate’s attorneys and Faletogo’s two minor children.
Nate Bingham, a Seattle attorney representing Faletogo’s estate, said the family and Faletogo’s mother, Lisa Elisara, would not have any immediate comment.
A message sent Wednesday seeking comment from the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, which defended the city in the lawsuit, was not immediately returned.
Sacramento pays $3M to man shot, wounded by police
The suit says police were called and a sergeant talked the man out of the bathroom but then shot him after he put down his gun.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento is paying more than $3 million to an Iraq veteran who was seriously wounded by police in a 2017 shooting.
Kristopher Velez filed an excessive force lawsuit against Sacramento regarding an incident that took place near Bellini Way in South Sacramento on Sept. 18, 2017.
The lawsuit said Velez, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, had gone into a bathroom with a gun after bail bond agents entered his home to take him into custody for a misdemeanor offense.
The lawsuit alleges the bail bond agents failed to alert themselves to Valdez before forcing their way in through a window. It argues that, even if they did announce their presence, they did not have the legal right to enter Valez's home for any reason.
The suit says police were called and a sergeant talked Velez out of the bathroom but then shot him after he put down his gun.
Velez was hit by at least four rounds at point-blank range, according to the lawsuit. The officer who shot Valez was identified as Sacramento Police K-9 Officer John Harshbarger.
Valdez was not charged with a crime relating to the incident, according to the lawsuit. Valdez is partially disabled and needs more surgeries.
Read the full story HERE.
The suit says police were called and a sergeant talked the man out of the bathroom but then shot him after he put down his gun.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento is paying more than $3 million to an Iraq veteran who was seriously wounded by police in a 2017 shooting.
Kristopher Velez filed an excessive force lawsuit against Sacramento regarding an incident that took place near Bellini Way in South Sacramento on Sept. 18, 2017.
The lawsuit said Velez, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, had gone into a bathroom with a gun after bail bond agents entered his home to take him into custody for a misdemeanor offense.
The lawsuit alleges the bail bond agents failed to alert themselves to Valdez before forcing their way in through a window. It argues that, even if they did announce their presence, they did not have the legal right to enter Valez's home for any reason.
The suit says police were called and a sergeant talked Velez out of the bathroom but then shot him after he put down his gun.
Velez was hit by at least four rounds at point-blank range, according to the lawsuit. The officer who shot Valez was identified as Sacramento Police K-9 Officer John Harshbarger.
Valdez was not charged with a crime relating to the incident, according to the lawsuit. Valdez is partially disabled and needs more surgeries.
Read the full story HERE.
Damn
Whitehall Township settles Black teen’s police brutality lawsuit for $75K
Updated: Nov. 10, 2021, 3:40 p.m. | Published: Nov. 10, 2021, 1:22 p.m.
The Whitehall Township commissioners signed off on a $75,000 settlement filed by a Black teen who claims a police officer gave him a concussion at a junior varsity basketball game.
Mekhi Burkett filed the lawsuit after the incident Jan. 28, 2020, at Whitehall High School. The commissioners approved the settlement Monday, according to Allentown attorney Matthew Mobilio. Mobilio represents Burkett. Mobilio signed off on the settlement Tuesday.
Updated: Nov. 10, 2021, 3:40 p.m. | Published: Nov. 10, 2021, 1:22 p.m.
The Whitehall Township commissioners signed off on a $75,000 settlement filed by a Black teen who claims a police officer gave him a concussion at a junior varsity basketball game.
Mekhi Burkett filed the lawsuit after the incident Jan. 28, 2020, at Whitehall High School. The commissioners approved the settlement Monday, according to Allentown attorney Matthew Mobilio. Mobilio represents Burkett. Mobilio signed off on the settlement Tuesday.
Paso Robles to pay $1.2 million settlement to victim of alleged rape
November 10, 2021
A woman allegedly raped by a former Paso Robles police officer has been awarded a $1.25 million settlement.
Ex-Sgt. Sean Christopher McGuire allegedly raped the woman in Dec. 2017 after responding to a domestic violence call at her home. McGuire is also accused of threatening to physically harm the woman or have her children taken away if she told anyone about the sexual assault.
While DNA evidence showed McGuire had sex with the woman, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said he could not prove the sex acts were not consensual. Dow opted not to prosecute McGuire.
In Dec. 2019, the woman sued McGuire and the city of Paso Robles in federal court.
On Sept. 29, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA) approved the settlement. The JPIA will pay the $1.25 million to the woman. Additionally, the JPIA covered the city of Paso Robles’s $356,810 expert and legal fee bill, City Manager Ty Lewis said.
McGuire’s alleged abuse of the woman began on Dec. 19, 2017, when she called 911 to report her boyfriend had assaulted her. McGuire was one of the officers routed to the woman’s home to provide assistance.
While the other officers left following the arrest of the boyfriend, McGuire stayed behind for approximately four hours. McGuire ordered the woman to hug her.
“McGuire grabbed plaintiff’s hand and placed it on his gun, which he was wearing in a holster on his hip,” the lawsuit stated. “He then grabbed her left hand and placed it on his erect penis. McGuire then asked plaintiff what gun she preferred.”
The woman said she preferred the firearm, bu McGuire then insisted she tell him what she would do with his “big cock.”
A few days later, McGuire stopped by the victim’s house wearing civilian clothes. He said he was on his way to work and was conducting a welfare check.
McGuire then asked the woman to go to her garage, so they could talk privately, as her children were home. Inside the garage, McGuire tried to force her to perform oral sex. After she refused, McGuire bent her over a platform, pulled her pants down and raped her, according to the suit.
Following the rape, McGuire allegedly stalked, harassed and threatened the woman. McGuire threatened to physically harm the woman or to make up allegations against her and have social services take her children away if she told anyone about the sexual assault.
In about April 2018, McGuire asked the woman if she had told others what happened. He then unsuccessfully attempted to force her to perform oral sex, according to the suit. After the woman began screaming, McGuire stopped and ordered her to follow him to his car.
McGuire then repeated his threat to have social services take the woman’s two children if she
told anyone about the sexual assault.
The former Paso Robles officer was also accused of abusing other alleged victims. Investigators noted that some of the sex acts occurred while the officer was in uniform.
Other parents have also accused McGuire of having CPS take their children through lies, in one case because the parents were gay.
McGuire resigned from the Paso Robles Police Department in 2018.
November 10, 2021
A woman allegedly raped by a former Paso Robles police officer has been awarded a $1.25 million settlement.
Ex-Sgt. Sean Christopher McGuire allegedly raped the woman in Dec. 2017 after responding to a domestic violence call at her home. McGuire is also accused of threatening to physically harm the woman or have her children taken away if she told anyone about the sexual assault.
While DNA evidence showed McGuire had sex with the woman, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said he could not prove the sex acts were not consensual. Dow opted not to prosecute McGuire.
In Dec. 2019, the woman sued McGuire and the city of Paso Robles in federal court.
On Sept. 29, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA) approved the settlement. The JPIA will pay the $1.25 million to the woman. Additionally, the JPIA covered the city of Paso Robles’s $356,810 expert and legal fee bill, City Manager Ty Lewis said.
McGuire’s alleged abuse of the woman began on Dec. 19, 2017, when she called 911 to report her boyfriend had assaulted her. McGuire was one of the officers routed to the woman’s home to provide assistance.
While the other officers left following the arrest of the boyfriend, McGuire stayed behind for approximately four hours. McGuire ordered the woman to hug her.
“McGuire grabbed plaintiff’s hand and placed it on his gun, which he was wearing in a holster on his hip,” the lawsuit stated. “He then grabbed her left hand and placed it on his erect penis. McGuire then asked plaintiff what gun she preferred.”
The woman said she preferred the firearm, bu McGuire then insisted she tell him what she would do with his “big cock.”
A few days later, McGuire stopped by the victim’s house wearing civilian clothes. He said he was on his way to work and was conducting a welfare check.
McGuire then asked the woman to go to her garage, so they could talk privately, as her children were home. Inside the garage, McGuire tried to force her to perform oral sex. After she refused, McGuire bent her over a platform, pulled her pants down and raped her, according to the suit.
Following the rape, McGuire allegedly stalked, harassed and threatened the woman. McGuire threatened to physically harm the woman or to make up allegations against her and have social services take her children away if she told anyone about the sexual assault.
In about April 2018, McGuire asked the woman if she had told others what happened. He then unsuccessfully attempted to force her to perform oral sex, according to the suit. After the woman began screaming, McGuire stopped and ordered her to follow him to his car.
McGuire then repeated his threat to have social services take the woman’s two children if she
told anyone about the sexual assault.
The former Paso Robles officer was also accused of abusing other alleged victims. Investigators noted that some of the sex acts occurred while the officer was in uniform.
Other parents have also accused McGuire of having CPS take their children through lies, in one case because the parents were gay.
McGuire resigned from the Paso Robles Police Department in 2018.
Springfield sets aside $5M to settle police misconduct cases
Updated: Nov. 16, 2021, 2:40 p.m. | Published: Nov. 16, 2021, 2:40 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD — The City Council has set aside $5 million to settle police misconduct cases in Springfield, occurring as the city continues to negotiate major police reforms with the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at improving conduct and reducing future citizen complaints.
The council vote on Monday evening was 10-1 to transfer the taxpayer funds to the Law Department’s Settlement Fund, as sought by the Law Department and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. Councilor Justin Hurst cast the sole “no” vote.
City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said the funds will help the city negotiate and settle various cases regarding police misconduct complaints and help prevent the potential far higher costs from jury awards. The specific cases were not revealed during the public meeting.
Updated: Nov. 16, 2021, 2:40 p.m. | Published: Nov. 16, 2021, 2:40 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD — The City Council has set aside $5 million to settle police misconduct cases in Springfield, occurring as the city continues to negotiate major police reforms with the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at improving conduct and reducing future citizen complaints.
The council vote on Monday evening was 10-1 to transfer the taxpayer funds to the Law Department’s Settlement Fund, as sought by the Law Department and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. Councilor Justin Hurst cast the sole “no” vote.
City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said the funds will help the city negotiate and settle various cases regarding police misconduct complaints and help prevent the potential far higher costs from jury awards. The specific cases were not revealed during the public meeting.
8-year-old son of Black man killed by police in California receive $1.3 million settlement
Kenneth Ross Jr., a 25-year-old Black man, was shot twice in a police confrontation on April 11, 2018, in Gardena, California.
www.insider.com
The 8-year-old son of a Black man who died in a police confrontation in 2018 will receive a $1.3 million settlement, his attorneys said Wednesday.
Kenneth Ross Jr., a 25-year-old Black man, was shot twice in a police confrontation on April 11, 2018, in Gardena, California, after officers responded to calls of a man firing a weapon in a park.
Michael Robbins, the Gardena Police Officer who shot Ross, "told investigators he believed Ross was reaching for a gun and feared for his life," KNBC reported. Robbins was absolved of all wrongdoing by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office the following year.
The family filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Gardena, and according to reports, the attorney representing Ross's son reached the $1.3 million settlement.
8-year-old son of Black man killed by police in California receive $1.3 million settlement
Kenneth Ross Jr., a 25-year-old Black man, was shot twice in a police confrontation on April 11, 2018, in Gardena, California.
The 8-year-old son of a Black man who died in a police confrontation in 2018 will receive a $1.3 million settlement, his attorneys said Wednesday.
Kenneth Ross Jr., a 25-year-old Black man, was shot twice in a police confrontation on April 11, 2018, in Gardena, California, after officers responded to calls of a man firing a weapon in a park.
Michael Robbins, the Gardena Police Officer who shot Ross, "told investigators he believed Ross was reaching for a gun and feared for his life," KNBC reported. Robbins was absolved of all wrongdoing by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office the following year.
The family filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Gardena, and according to reports, the attorney representing Ross's son reached the $1.3 million settlement.
Confrontation?! What I saw was a man running away at a distance of more than 100 meters (no immediate threat) from his shooter.
Columbus to pay $5.75 million settlement to protesters
NEWS, STATE WIRE
Money is to settle federal civil rights lawsuit
More than two dozen plaintiffs who say they were brutalized by Columbus police during protests against racial injustice in the summer of 2020 will receive a settlement totaling $5,750,000 once the City Council approves the payout.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein announced the settlement agreement Thursday afternoon that came after 32 plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit in July 2020 in U.S. District Court in Columbus. The suit named the city of Columbus, former Police Chief Thomas Quinlan and at least five other officers for injuries the plaintiffs said they suffered while protesting Downtown.
Once approved by the City Council, the funds to pay for this settlement will come from the city’s general fund account, Klein said.
As part of the settlement, the City of Columbus also agreed to permanently ban police officers from using tear gas and wooden bullets to break up non-violent protesters.
Chief U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley had issued a temporary injunction in late April banning so-called “non-lethal force” in a ruling in which he stated Columbus police had “run amok” in handling the 2020 unrest. The ruling came after more than two dozen protesters filed a lawsuit alleging police used excessive force during the protests, which began after the May 25 murder of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin
The plaintiffs in the case had alleged that their First Amendment constitutional rights were violated during mostly Downtown protests in the summer of 2020 as the death of Floyd sparked nationwide unrest and grew into a larger movement against police brutality and systemic racism.
In a written statement, Klein commended many Columbus police officers for their response to the unrest, but said some crossed the line.
“During the protests in Columbus, some plaintiffs were significantly injured,” Klein said. “Therefore, it’s incumbent upon the city to accept responsibility and pay restitution … this litigation highlighted serious issues that must be addressed.”
The lead plaintiff in the case was Tammy Fournier-Alsaada, a social justice organizer who is part of the People’s Justice Project in Columbus.
According to court documents, Fournier-Alsaada said she was at a protest on May 30, 2020, in the Downtown area when she was informed that protesters were being arrested. She said she began speaking to a police official she knew, but as she was granted permission to walk through a line of officers to continue a discussion, she was pepper-sprayed without provocation.
In the lawsuit, three plaintiffs claim they suffered broken bones as a result of police response to the demonstrations. One of them said that a tear gas canister fractured a fibula, a leg bone.
Other protesters said they were hit in the face or legs with wooden pellets. Protesters also said in the lawsuit that they were sprayed more than once with pepper spray and were improperly arrested.
Police are also required to ensure that body cameras and vehicle dash cameras are on and functioning before any interaction with protesters, according to the settlement. Badge numbers or other proper identification are further required to be displayed even when officers are wearing riot gear.
Columbus Public Safety Director Robert Clark said the settlement is about ensuring accountability for officer misconduct in an effort to build trust with residents across the city.
NEWS, STATE WIRE
Money is to settle federal civil rights lawsuit
More than two dozen plaintiffs who say they were brutalized by Columbus police during protests against racial injustice in the summer of 2020 will receive a settlement totaling $5,750,000 once the City Council approves the payout.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein announced the settlement agreement Thursday afternoon that came after 32 plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit in July 2020 in U.S. District Court in Columbus. The suit named the city of Columbus, former Police Chief Thomas Quinlan and at least five other officers for injuries the plaintiffs said they suffered while protesting Downtown.
Once approved by the City Council, the funds to pay for this settlement will come from the city’s general fund account, Klein said.
As part of the settlement, the City of Columbus also agreed to permanently ban police officers from using tear gas and wooden bullets to break up non-violent protesters.
Chief U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley had issued a temporary injunction in late April banning so-called “non-lethal force” in a ruling in which he stated Columbus police had “run amok” in handling the 2020 unrest. The ruling came after more than two dozen protesters filed a lawsuit alleging police used excessive force during the protests, which began after the May 25 murder of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin
The plaintiffs in the case had alleged that their First Amendment constitutional rights were violated during mostly Downtown protests in the summer of 2020 as the death of Floyd sparked nationwide unrest and grew into a larger movement against police brutality and systemic racism.
During the protests, which sometimes led to rioting, vandalism and theft, the Columbus Division of Police made arrests and used pepper spray, tear gas, wooden baton rounds, and sponge rounds to break up crowds.In a written statement, Klein commended many Columbus police officers for their response to the unrest, but said some crossed the line.
“During the protests in Columbus, some plaintiffs were significantly injured,” Klein said. “Therefore, it’s incumbent upon the city to accept responsibility and pay restitution … this litigation highlighted serious issues that must be addressed.”
The lead plaintiff in the case was Tammy Fournier-Alsaada, a social justice organizer who is part of the People’s Justice Project in Columbus.
According to court documents, Fournier-Alsaada said she was at a protest on May 30, 2020, in the Downtown area when she was informed that protesters were being arrested. She said she began speaking to a police official she knew, but as she was granted permission to walk through a line of officers to continue a discussion, she was pepper-sprayed without provocation.
In the lawsuit, three plaintiffs claim they suffered broken bones as a result of police response to the demonstrations. One of them said that a tear gas canister fractured a fibula, a leg bone.
Other protesters said they were hit in the face or legs with wooden pellets. Protesters also said in the lawsuit that they were sprayed more than once with pepper spray and were improperly arrested.
Police are also required to ensure that body cameras and vehicle dash cameras are on and functioning before any interaction with protesters, according to the settlement. Badge numbers or other proper identification are further required to be displayed even when officers are wearing riot gear.
Columbus Public Safety Director Robert Clark said the settlement is about ensuring accountability for officer misconduct in an effort to build trust with residents across the city.
Kansas City police will be fully funded next year — but legal settlements may cost millions more
KCUR | By Peggy Lowe
Published December 9, 2021 at 2:43 PM CST
Contrary to the police union president’s claim that Kansas City is “defunding the police,” the city is poised to hire new officers and raise salaries.
Despite paying out $5.9 million in legal settlements last year — and with several potentially large claims still pending — the Kansas City Police Department has budgeted just $2.4 million for settlements this fiscal year.
Mayor Quinton Lucas on Thursday said the budgeted figure is a “huge concern,” given several high-profile cases, namely one brought by the family of Cameron Lamb, a 26-year-old Black man shot and killed by a Kansas City police detective. The detective, Eric DeValkenaere, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action last month and is awaiting sentencing. Lamb’s family has sued the Board of Police Commissioners, seeking $10 million.
During the last two fiscal years, KCPD has paid out more than $8.5 million in legal settlements. In 2019-20, the amount was $2.7 million and in 2020-21 it was $5.9 million.
Lucas asked Police Chief Rick Smith about the payouts at a budget hearing, saying there are at least 15 cases pending against the department in Jackson County Circuit Court. Lucas worried that the money would be taken from important items like salaries.
“We're just acting like we won't have to pay,” Lucas said after the meeting. “And the bigger question for me is, well, where's that money gonna come from later? It sets up the battles of next year and the year after, where there will be a midyear budget request.”
Smith didn’t respond to Lucas at the meeting, and a KCPD staffer blamed the shortfall on a late $1 million payment from the state of Missouri.
Councilwoman Katheryn Shields on Tuesday asked Smith during a budget hearing if he’d provide the last three years of excessive-force payouts. On Thursday, Shields hadn’t received the information and said she expected it “when hell freezes over.”
Overall, the city appears poised to spend $243.4 million on the police department, but the total budget is $285.5 million for fiscal year 2022-23, an increase of 11 percent, according to police documents. The total includes the city's portion and state and federal grants.
Smith, board commissioners and city council members said their first concern is bringing up staffing levels in the department, which is currently down some 200 officers. The staffing deficit is due to retirements, small academy classes and, according to Smith, poor pay and high stress.
The department currently has 1,191 sworn officers, 510 civilians and 26 officer candidates. Lucas and others want the department staffed up to 1,412 officers.
Bishop Mark Tolbert, chair of the board of commissioners, said he hopes to get more officers in the hiring pipeline by funding police academy classes and looking to local community colleges. But Smith said the biggest problem is salaries, with his department weighing in lowest of 11 metro agencies, according to a survey by the local police union.
“I don’t know what’s going to change an officer’s mind if he wants to leave here,” he said. “Pay is going to be the No. 1 issue.”
Lucas said the board should announce now that it plans to spend millions to hire more officers and raise salaries, but Tolbert said he didn’t want to move too quickly on such an announcement because he may end up with “egg on my face later.”
The hearings come in a week that witnessed six homicides, bringing the total to 146 this year. (There were 173 last year.) After a violent weekend, Brad Lemon, president of the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 99, tweeted on Monday that it had been a “very sad weekend.”
“Multiple homicides and assaults, all while the patrol divisions had buyback positions available because of manpower shortages,” Lemon tweeted. “This is what defunding the police looks like.”
Asked after Thursday’s budget meeting whether he still thought there was “defunding of the police” happening, Lemon said he will wait on the ongoing budget talks. The city’s budget is approved at the end of March and goes into effect in May.
“Today was obviously a really good start of two groups that haven't talked much lately,” he said. “So, you know, we’re really excited about that and we're hoping that we get a good resolution out of this. Because at the end of the day, the citizens deserve a department that can do policing of the city this size.”
KCUR | By Peggy Lowe
Published December 9, 2021 at 2:43 PM CST
Contrary to the police union president’s claim that Kansas City is “defunding the police,” the city is poised to hire new officers and raise salaries.
Despite paying out $5.9 million in legal settlements last year — and with several potentially large claims still pending — the Kansas City Police Department has budgeted just $2.4 million for settlements this fiscal year.
Mayor Quinton Lucas on Thursday said the budgeted figure is a “huge concern,” given several high-profile cases, namely one brought by the family of Cameron Lamb, a 26-year-old Black man shot and killed by a Kansas City police detective. The detective, Eric DeValkenaere, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action last month and is awaiting sentencing. Lamb’s family has sued the Board of Police Commissioners, seeking $10 million.
During the last two fiscal years, KCPD has paid out more than $8.5 million in legal settlements. In 2019-20, the amount was $2.7 million and in 2020-21 it was $5.9 million.
Lucas asked Police Chief Rick Smith about the payouts at a budget hearing, saying there are at least 15 cases pending against the department in Jackson County Circuit Court. Lucas worried that the money would be taken from important items like salaries.
“We're just acting like we won't have to pay,” Lucas said after the meeting. “And the bigger question for me is, well, where's that money gonna come from later? It sets up the battles of next year and the year after, where there will be a midyear budget request.”
Smith didn’t respond to Lucas at the meeting, and a KCPD staffer blamed the shortfall on a late $1 million payment from the state of Missouri.
Councilwoman Katheryn Shields on Tuesday asked Smith during a budget hearing if he’d provide the last three years of excessive-force payouts. On Thursday, Shields hadn’t received the information and said she expected it “when hell freezes over.”
Overall, the city appears poised to spend $243.4 million on the police department, but the total budget is $285.5 million for fiscal year 2022-23, an increase of 11 percent, according to police documents. The total includes the city's portion and state and federal grants.
Smith, board commissioners and city council members said their first concern is bringing up staffing levels in the department, which is currently down some 200 officers. The staffing deficit is due to retirements, small academy classes and, according to Smith, poor pay and high stress.
The department currently has 1,191 sworn officers, 510 civilians and 26 officer candidates. Lucas and others want the department staffed up to 1,412 officers.
Bishop Mark Tolbert, chair of the board of commissioners, said he hopes to get more officers in the hiring pipeline by funding police academy classes and looking to local community colleges. But Smith said the biggest problem is salaries, with his department weighing in lowest of 11 metro agencies, according to a survey by the local police union.
“I don’t know what’s going to change an officer’s mind if he wants to leave here,” he said. “Pay is going to be the No. 1 issue.”
Lucas said the board should announce now that it plans to spend millions to hire more officers and raise salaries, but Tolbert said he didn’t want to move too quickly on such an announcement because he may end up with “egg on my face later.”
The hearings come in a week that witnessed six homicides, bringing the total to 146 this year. (There were 173 last year.) After a violent weekend, Brad Lemon, president of the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 99, tweeted on Monday that it had been a “very sad weekend.”
“Multiple homicides and assaults, all while the patrol divisions had buyback positions available because of manpower shortages,” Lemon tweeted. “This is what defunding the police looks like.”
Asked after Thursday’s budget meeting whether he still thought there was “defunding of the police” happening, Lemon said he will wait on the ongoing budget talks. The city’s budget is approved at the end of March and goes into effect in May.
“Today was obviously a really good start of two groups that haven't talked much lately,” he said. “So, you know, we’re really excited about that and we're hoping that we get a good resolution out of this. Because at the end of the day, the citizens deserve a department that can do policing of the city this size.”
City paid $600,000 to family of 13-year-old boy killed in 2018 Louisville police pursuit
LOUISVILLE, Ky., (WDRB) -- The family of a 13-year-old killed while inside a stolen SUV that crashed while fleeing police in December 2018 received $600,000 from the city to settle a wrongful death lawsuit against a Louisville Metro Police Department officer.
Attorney Sam Aguiar, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ki'Anthony Tyus' family, confirmed the settlement was reached late this summer.
A document in court records filed last week noted the case had been resolved.
The Jefferson County Attorney's office, which represented the Metro Government in the suit, provided the settlement, which prohibits Tyus' family from criticizing LMPD or the city.
The suit claimed Officer Roger Marcum improperly participated in a high-speed chase on Dec. 22 2018 of a stolen SUV on Fern Valley Road, "slamming his cruiser into the SUV," causing the "violent crash."
Police said that the driver of the SUV, which had five people inside, including Ki’Anthony Tyus, lost control, flipped and crashed into a ditch.
Ki’Anthony was known in the community after he survived getting hit by a stray bullet five years ago and became an activist who spoke out against gun violence.
The 13-year-old met with state government leaders, basketball stars, and music legends to spread the message about gun violence. Rapper and businessman Master P paid for the child's funeral.
Family said he had permission to go skating at the Manslick Rollerdome that day and they did not know how he ended up in the stolen SUV.
The SUV was stolen, police have said, and the driver did not pull over when officers initiated a stop on I-65 South. A previous police statement said the driver turned toward officers, causing two patrol cars to crash, then sped away on I-65.
An officer on the scene indicated officers let the SUV go, but Marcum "was clearly not ok with the SUV being let go" and re-engaged in a pursuit along with another officer, according to the lawsuit.
The other officer stopped chasing the SUV after a separate motorist was injured in a wreck, the suit claimed.
The suit says Marcum did not have supervisor permission to pursue the SUV, had no indication a violent felony had been committed and knew that one motorist had already been in a wreck because of the chase.
In addition, Marcum reported that the SUV ran a red light and "any reasonable officer in a similar situation would have concluded … that the risks continued by the pursuit outweighed the needs for immediate apprehension," according to the lawsuit.
Marcum "let his emotions get the best of him, putting his personal agenda of getting those he suspected of causing an injury accident to officers ahead of the policies precluding initiation of a pursuit and mandating termination under the circumstances present," the suit claimed.
Family sues Chicago over fatal shooting of 14-year-old boy by police
JEREMY GORNER APRIL 10, 2015
The family of a 14-year-old boy fatally shot on the Northwest Side by Chicago police during the violent Fourth of July weekend last year filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging that the teen did not pose a threat to officers.
Chicago police said at the time that Rios took off running and pointed a .44-caliber revolver at officers, putting them in fear for their lives. A spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police had described the weapon as a "Dirty Harry-looking gun."
According to the lawsuit, two officers on patrol near Berenice and Cicero avenues in the Portage Park neighborhood pursued Rios after he took off running and struck him with their squad car.
During a news conference Thursday outside the family's apartment building in the Rogers Park neighborhood, their lawyer said one officer got out of the car and shot Rios twice in the back.
"If he was indeed carrying a weapon, sure, that's a problem when we have a 14-year-old carrying a weapon," said attorney Mark Brown, flanked by members of the Rios family. "But it's not a death sentence. A police officer who sees somebody with a weapon doesn't have unabashed authority to shoot that person and kill them."
John Holden, a spokesman for the city's Law Department, would not comment on the lawsuit because the city has not yet had a chance to review it.
Rios' family said that Pedro Jr. liked cutting hair and had just graduated from eighth grade at Stephen Gale elementary school. They said he was supposed to next attend Chicago Math and Science Academy.
Through tears and with the aid of an interpreter, Laura Rios, the teen's mother, said in Spanish that she has no idea why her son was in the Portage Park area.
"She says the last time that he was home, he just said, 'I'll come back,'" said the interpreter, family friend Erika Coronel. "He didn't say where he was going.."
"She would like to know why he was killed that way," Coronel, "and why they (the police) couldn't do anything else besides shooting him."
JEREMY GORNER APRIL 10, 2015
The family of a 14-year-old boy fatally shot on the Northwest Side by Chicago police during the violent Fourth of July weekend last year filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging that the teen did not pose a threat to officers.
Chicago police said at the time that Rios took off running and pointed a .44-caliber revolver at officers, putting them in fear for their lives. A spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police had described the weapon as a "Dirty Harry-looking gun."
According to the lawsuit, two officers on patrol near Berenice and Cicero avenues in the Portage Park neighborhood pursued Rios after he took off running and struck him with their squad car.
During a news conference Thursday outside the family's apartment building in the Rogers Park neighborhood, their lawyer said one officer got out of the car and shot Rios twice in the back.
"If he was indeed carrying a weapon, sure, that's a problem when we have a 14-year-old carrying a weapon," said attorney Mark Brown, flanked by members of the Rios family. "But it's not a death sentence. A police officer who sees somebody with a weapon doesn't have unabashed authority to shoot that person and kill them."
John Holden, a spokesman for the city's Law Department, would not comment on the lawsuit because the city has not yet had a chance to review it.
Rios' family said that Pedro Jr. liked cutting hair and had just graduated from eighth grade at Stephen Gale elementary school. They said he was supposed to next attend Chicago Math and Science Academy.
Through tears and with the aid of an interpreter, Laura Rios, the teen's mother, said in Spanish that she has no idea why her son was in the Portage Park area.
"She says the last time that he was home, he just said, 'I'll come back,'" said the interpreter, family friend Erika Coronel. "He didn't say where he was going.."
"She would like to know why he was killed that way," Coronel, "and why they (the police) couldn't do anything else besides shooting him."
All three officers were cleared of wrongdoing in October 2018, with the district attorney saying they reasonably feared for their lives because Venzor-Gonzalez was considered armed and dangerous. In March 2020, Mercado and Barela were found to have violated department policy by firing at a moving vehicle. They served 90 days of unpaid suspension.
City Council OKs $365,000 settlement in wrongful death lawsuit against Denver police
The Denver City Council approved a $365,000 settlement against the Denver Police Department Monday after police killed one man and injured another in 2018 while mistakenly pursuing who they thought
denvergazette.com
Allentown pays $400,000 to settle lawsuit alleging police covered up beating; largest payout in 10 years
An Allentown man who was cleared of criminal charges in a neighborhood clash with police has settled for $400,000 in a civil lawsuit alleging police beat him and conducted a sham investigation to cover it up.
John Perez was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after a September 2018 episode in which residents of a south Allentown neighborhood objected to officers searching for a suspected gunman in the garages behind homes on Filmore Street. He was acquitted of the charges in February 2020 in a trial that concluded with a Lehigh County judge excoriating the officers and the district attorney’s office.
Perez’s suit filed in U.S. District Court in September 2020 alleged that after four Allentown police officers pushed him to the ground and punched and kicked him, the officers prepared false police reports and a false affidavit supporting charges against Perez, not knowing that there was video of the arrest. The video from a home security system at a house near the scene went viral after it was posted on Facebook and The Morning Call’s website. It played a crucial role in Perez’s criminal trial.
According to a document obtained by The Morning Call through a Right-to-Know request, Perez agreed to settle the lawsuit Nov. 8. In exchange for $400,000, Perez gave up his claims against the city for alleged violations of his civil rights. The city did not admit fault in the settlement. Ten city officials including Mayor Ray O’Connell, former police Chief Tony Alsleben and eight police officers named as defendants were dismissed and are not part of the settlement, court records show.
The suit alleged that defects in Allentown’s policies on investigating excessive force complaints and lack of discipline for officers who are the subjects of complaints are proof that officials turn a blind eye to violations of residents’ rights.
“In effect, the Allentown Police Department and the city of Allentown . . . have institutionalized a policy to cover-up police wrongdoing, or at the very least turn a blind eye toward the wrongdoing, sending a message . . . that constitutional violations will not only go unpunished but will be tolerated, if not encouraged by the city and the police administration,” the suit says.
The suit claimed that the lack of any reform after a federal jury awarded $270,000 to an Allentown woman who claimed police used excessive force when they arrested her is further evidence of the city’s indifference toward residents’ rights.
Further supporting that, the suit alleged, is the lack of discipline for officers who have been the subject of complaints and civil rights lawsuits. Officer Jose Lebron, who was a defendant in Perez’s lawsuit, was previously accused of using excessive force in a 2014 lawsuit that settled for $25,000.
Since 2015, the city has paid more than $2 million in the jury verdict and 14 settlements with people who claimed they were victims of officers using excessive force. Perez’s settlement is the largest since 2011, when the city paid $600,000 to settle a suit by the family of a 4-year-old boy crushed when a police officer’s cruiser careened onto a sidewalk after colliding with another police car.
Police responded in the early morning of Sept. 8, 2018, to a report of a man with a gun in the alley behind Perez’s home. Hearing commotion, Perez went outside to investigate.
He heard officers directing obscenities at his neighbors and challenged their conduct, saying “If you’re here to help us, why are you screaming at everybody that called the cops. Why are you talking to them like that if you’re here to help them.”
Lebron told Perez to mind his own business and, “Get the f-- out of here. Go back to where the f-- you came from,” in an apparent reference to Perez’s Dominican heritage, although he is a U.S. citizen. Perez did not respond physically but continued challenging Lebron’s use of foul language.
Lebron responded with “explosive force” pushing Perez to the ground and punching him when Perez regained his footing. Three other officers joined the assault, with officer Neil Battoni striking Perez at least five times in the face. Officers Christopher Matthews and Jonathan Smith restrained Perez, preventing him from shielding himself from the blows, the suit alleges.
At least five other officers at the scene had an opportunity to intervene but failed to do so. Some, the suit alleges, were complicit in using flashlights to prevent residents from taking videos.
After Perez was cleared of criminal charges in the episode, former Judge Maria L. Dantos blasted the officers involved accusing them of perjuring themselves and scolding them for their demeanor during the trial.
“You escalated a situation without cause. Cops smirking on the stand at this jury, laughing at the defense attorney, high-fiving in the hallway after testimony as if there were something, anything, to be proud of here,” she said.
An Allentown man who was cleared of criminal charges in a neighborhood clash with police has settled for $400,000 in a civil lawsuit alleging police beat him and conducted a sham investigation to cover it up.
John Perez was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after a September 2018 episode in which residents of a south Allentown neighborhood objected to officers searching for a suspected gunman in the garages behind homes on Filmore Street. He was acquitted of the charges in February 2020 in a trial that concluded with a Lehigh County judge excoriating the officers and the district attorney’s office.
Perez’s suit filed in U.S. District Court in September 2020 alleged that after four Allentown police officers pushed him to the ground and punched and kicked him, the officers prepared false police reports and a false affidavit supporting charges against Perez, not knowing that there was video of the arrest. The video from a home security system at a house near the scene went viral after it was posted on Facebook and The Morning Call’s website. It played a crucial role in Perez’s criminal trial.
According to a document obtained by The Morning Call through a Right-to-Know request, Perez agreed to settle the lawsuit Nov. 8. In exchange for $400,000, Perez gave up his claims against the city for alleged violations of his civil rights. The city did not admit fault in the settlement. Ten city officials including Mayor Ray O’Connell, former police Chief Tony Alsleben and eight police officers named as defendants were dismissed and are not part of the settlement, court records show.
The suit alleged that defects in Allentown’s policies on investigating excessive force complaints and lack of discipline for officers who are the subjects of complaints are proof that officials turn a blind eye to violations of residents’ rights.
“In effect, the Allentown Police Department and the city of Allentown . . . have institutionalized a policy to cover-up police wrongdoing, or at the very least turn a blind eye toward the wrongdoing, sending a message . . . that constitutional violations will not only go unpunished but will be tolerated, if not encouraged by the city and the police administration,” the suit says.
The suit claimed that the lack of any reform after a federal jury awarded $270,000 to an Allentown woman who claimed police used excessive force when they arrested her is further evidence of the city’s indifference toward residents’ rights.
Further supporting that, the suit alleged, is the lack of discipline for officers who have been the subject of complaints and civil rights lawsuits. Officer Jose Lebron, who was a defendant in Perez’s lawsuit, was previously accused of using excessive force in a 2014 lawsuit that settled for $25,000.
Since 2015, the city has paid more than $2 million in the jury verdict and 14 settlements with people who claimed they were victims of officers using excessive force. Perez’s settlement is the largest since 2011, when the city paid $600,000 to settle a suit by the family of a 4-year-old boy crushed when a police officer’s cruiser careened onto a sidewalk after colliding with another police car.
Police responded in the early morning of Sept. 8, 2018, to a report of a man with a gun in the alley behind Perez’s home. Hearing commotion, Perez went outside to investigate.
He heard officers directing obscenities at his neighbors and challenged their conduct, saying “If you’re here to help us, why are you screaming at everybody that called the cops. Why are you talking to them like that if you’re here to help them.”
Lebron told Perez to mind his own business and, “Get the f-- out of here. Go back to where the f-- you came from,” in an apparent reference to Perez’s Dominican heritage, although he is a U.S. citizen. Perez did not respond physically but continued challenging Lebron’s use of foul language.
Lebron responded with “explosive force” pushing Perez to the ground and punching him when Perez regained his footing. Three other officers joined the assault, with officer Neil Battoni striking Perez at least five times in the face. Officers Christopher Matthews and Jonathan Smith restrained Perez, preventing him from shielding himself from the blows, the suit alleges.
At least five other officers at the scene had an opportunity to intervene but failed to do so. Some, the suit alleges, were complicit in using flashlights to prevent residents from taking videos.
After Perez was cleared of criminal charges in the episode, former Judge Maria L. Dantos blasted the officers involved accusing them of perjuring themselves and scolding them for their demeanor during the trial.
“You escalated a situation without cause. Cops smirking on the stand at this jury, laughing at the defense attorney, high-fiving in the hallway after testimony as if there were something, anything, to be proud of here,” she said.
All three officers were cleared of wrongdoing in October 2018, with the district attorney saying they reasonably feared for their lives because Venzor-Gonzalez was considered armed and dangerous. In March 2020, Mercado and Barela were found to have violated department policy by firing at a moving vehicle. They served 90 days of unpaid suspension.
City Council OKs $365,000 settlement in wrongful death lawsuit against Denver police
The Denver City Council approved a $365,000 settlement against the Denver Police Department Monday after police killed one man and injured another in 2018 while mistakenly pursuing who they thought
This muhfucka fired 16 rounds into the vehicle, yelling some "show me your hands" bullshit; reloads and fires 13 more, all the while yelling some shit that I'm sure could not be complied with at that point; finishes off the mag and reloads.
These bastards KILL me with that shit.
Yeah, no reasonable person will pay attention to that.This muhfucka fired 16 rounds into the vehicle, yelling some "show me your hands" bullshit; reloads and fires 13 more, all the while yelling some shit that I'm sure could not be complied with at that point; finishes off the mag and reloads.
These bastards KILL me with that shit.
After nearly 10 years, Paterson family gets $425,000 in police shooting death lawsuit
PATERSON — The city has approved a $425,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of Saulo Del Rosario, a 39-year-old man fatally shot inside his home in 2012 by a Paterson police officer responding to a 911 emergency call.
A family friend made the 911 call because Del Rosario’s children were worried when he locked himself in a room without his seizure medication, according to court records. He suffered from mental health problems and epilepsy, the court records say.
The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office had deemed the shooting justified, saying the deceased was wielding a hammer and charging toward police officers, who were behind a protective shield.
But family members said Del Rosario either had dropped the hammer or was holding it at his side when the police kicked down the door of his locked bedroom, the court records say.
In the lawsuit, the family argued that the police should have waited for a crisis negotiator before bursting into the man’s room. But the city said the police officers broke into the room because they believe Del Rosario was having a medical
emergency or harming himself.
“While I am very pleased with the settlement of the litigation, this represents a very bittersweet moment for the family of Saulo Del Rosario,” said their lawyer, Diego Navas. “Saulo left behind three children, his mother, several siblings and nieces and nephews, and his family still has a hard time coming to terms with his untimely and senseless death at the hands of the Paterson police nine years ago.”
“It was our belief,” Navas added, “that the police officers created the danger here by rushing their decision to enter Saulo’s room instead of following their own department’s protocol, which called for them to contact a crisis negotiator, who should have been able to defuse the situation without bloodshed.”
PATERSON — The city has approved a $425,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of Saulo Del Rosario, a 39-year-old man fatally shot inside his home in 2012 by a Paterson police officer responding to a 911 emergency call.
A family friend made the 911 call because Del Rosario’s children were worried when he locked himself in a room without his seizure medication, according to court records. He suffered from mental health problems and epilepsy, the court records say.
The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office had deemed the shooting justified, saying the deceased was wielding a hammer and charging toward police officers, who were behind a protective shield.
But family members said Del Rosario either had dropped the hammer or was holding it at his side when the police kicked down the door of his locked bedroom, the court records say.
In the lawsuit, the family argued that the police should have waited for a crisis negotiator before bursting into the man’s room. But the city said the police officers broke into the room because they believe Del Rosario was having a medical
emergency or harming himself.
“While I am very pleased with the settlement of the litigation, this represents a very bittersweet moment for the family of Saulo Del Rosario,” said their lawyer, Diego Navas. “Saulo left behind three children, his mother, several siblings and nieces and nephews, and his family still has a hard time coming to terms with his untimely and senseless death at the hands of the Paterson police nine years ago.”
“It was our belief,” Navas added, “that the police officers created the danger here by rushing their decision to enter Saulo’s room instead of following their own department’s protocol, which called for them to contact a crisis negotiator, who should have been able to defuse the situation without bloodshed.”