Settlements

Jaime Bunkholt, an Atlanta-based photographer, alleged in her federal lawsuit that an unidentified officer with the Minneapolis Police Department fired a rubber bullet that hit her in the back of the head during a 2020 protest. Bunkholt sustained both permanent and temporary injuries, including a concussion. The Minneapolis City Council agreed to settle Bunkholt’s lawsuit for $500,000.

Potter, who had a trainee with her, initially pulled over Wright for an expired tag and an illegal air freshener. After police learned that Wright had an outstanding warrant, Potter proceeded to shoot and kill him, claiming that she mistook her gun for a taser. The twenty-six-year police veteran was later sentenced to two years in prison for manslaughter. Wright’s killing occurred less than a year after an officer of the Minneapolis Police Department murdered George Floyd about ten miles away. The settlement with Wright’s family was “in exchange for a release of the City, its employees, and Kim Potter from any claims or actions stemming from Mr. Wright’s death.” The settlement also required new policies and procedures for Brooklyn Center police officers, including trainings on implicit bias, weapons confusion, de-escalation, and how to navigate mental health crises. 

As Aguirre left a one-vehicle wreck in 2013, three police officers who responded to the scene pinned him down for over five minutes and then allowed three additional minutes to pass before they rendered medical aid. The examiner ruled Aguirre’s cause of death as “positional asphyxiation” and “excited delirium” brought on by his restraint and subsequently ruled Aguirre’s death a homicide. The family originally filed suit in 2015. The settlement came in 2022, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determined that San Antonio Police Department officers were not entitled to qualified immunity in this case. 

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law represented the marchers. The lawsuit was connected to a 2020 “march to the polls” event, where sheriff’s deputies and police officers pepper-sprayed marchers, including children and elderly people, for blocking a street without permission. Under the terms of the settlement, the Police Department and sheriff’s office did not claim any responsibility for the incident. 

On May 31, 2020, Mia Wright, Tnika Tate, Kim Woods, Ebony Wilbourn, and Javon Hill went to a mall to shop for party supplies and baby items, when officers accused them of attempting to loot a sporting goods store. Officer David Laskus falsely claimed that he saw someone with a hammer attempt to break a store window and then get back in the car with Wright and the others, even though surveillance video showed otherwise. When the group started to drive away at the direction of other officers, police used their batons to smash the car’s windows and demanded that everyone get out of the vehicle. Laskus pulled Wright out of the car by her hair and kneeled on her back and neck. Officer Patrick Dwyer, who retired in July 2020, used racist and sexist language during the incident. The City Council agreed in March 2022 to settle the lawsuit with payments totaling $1.625 million to the five individuals in the car.

Riley and ten other WPD employees signed an August 2020 letter calling for the termination of WPD Officer Aaron Dalton due to his violations of civil rights, threats against other officers, falsification of paperwork, and use of racial profanity. In October 2020, the mayor informed Riley that her position was being eliminated, which Riley’s legal counsel argued was retaliation for her whistleblowing. This settlement followed a series of other payouts by the City for incidents of police misconduct by Dalton and other officers, including a $750,000 settlement to William Cox and a $350,000 settlement to Andre Howton. The City placed Dalton on paid administrative leave for more than a year before ultimately terminating him.

The deputies fired several shots, one of which struck Brown in the back of his head and killed him. His family commissioned an independent autopsy that said police shot Brown five times, including the fatal shot to the back of his head. Brown’s family filed a $30 million civil rights lawsuit in 2021, asserting that the deputies displayed “intentional and reckless disregard” for Brown’s life. In May 2021, the county district attorney deemed the shooting “justified” and declined to prosecute the officers involved.

Gladney filed the lawsuit against Officer Tyler Ryan Timberlake in 2021, alleging that the officer used excessive force against him and falsely arrested him. Timberlake was charged with misdemeanor assault, but a grand jury found him not guilty.

Evans filed the suit in March 2022, alleging that Hersl and other officers with the GTTF planted crack cocaine on him, applied for warrants based on false allegations, and illegally arrested him following a 2012 search. Evans originally sought $1.5 million in damages in a case that was dismissed in 2020. The parties agreed to the 2022 settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of prolonged litigation. Hersl, one of eight GTTF members indicted on charges including racketeering, robbery, extortion, and overtime fraud, was sentenced to eighteen years in prison. As of June 2022, the City of Baltimore had paid over $14 million to settle lawsuits related to GTTF misconduct.

Jackson and Stallings were standing in a parking lot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020 when a Minneapolis SWAT team fired 40mm plastic projectiles, which hit Stallings in the chest. The SWAT team had been driving around Minneapolis in an unmarked white cargo van and firing plastic projectiles at people who were out after a curfew imposed in the wake of protests over George Floyd’s murder by police. Stallings, thinking the people in the unmarked van were white supremacists, responded to being shot at by firing back with his pistol, but he later testified that he purposefully missed. The officers then jumped out of the van. Even though Stallings and Jackson both tried to surrender, and video shows them on their knees with their hands up, officers beat Stallings for thirty seconds and beat and tased Jackson for two minutes. Stallings, an Army veteran, was later acquitted of all charges.

Ingram’s lawsuit named Camden County, the Camden County Police Department, then-Assistant Chief of Police Orlando Cuevas, then-Police Chief John Scott Thomson, and officers Jeremy Merck, Antonio Gennetta, and Nicholas Marchiafava as defendants. The suit accused the officers of using excessive force and failing to provide necessary medical care, resulting in Ingram’s severe cervical spine injuries and permanent quadriplegia. The County agreed to a settlement in May 2022 after years of litigation and a mistrial in Camden federal court declared on March 29, 2022, when a jury became deadlocked on whether the officers were responsible for Ingram’s injuries.

Tirado had traveled to Minneapolis in May 2020 to cover the protests in response to George Floyd’s murder by police. She claimed in her lawsuit that police targeted her as she took photos outside a police precinct in south Minneapolis on May 29, 2020. She alleged that officers ignored her press credentials and fired a foam bullet at her, striking her in the face and shattering her protective goggles.

In 1997, Cooper was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery. After serving more than eight years in prison, he filed a lawsuit against the Elkhart Police Department, claiming that their police officials, including Detective Steve Rezutko, framed him and his co-defendant through “false witness statements and unduly suggestive photo lineups.” The eyewitnesses who testified at Cooper’s trial later admitted that they had been manipulated by Rezutko into implicating Cooper. DNA evidence eventually identified the shooter as a man who was convicted of murder in Michigan in 2002. In 2017, Cooper became the first Indiana man to be granted a pardon based on actual innocence. His co-defendant, Christopher Parish, was exonerated and awarded a nearly $5 million settlement in 2014.

Surrounding officers ignored Drake’s request for help after she was shot. The lawsuit asserted that the officers’ actions violated her First Amendment right to protected speech and to peaceful assembly, and her Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force. The City of Austin agreed to pay an $850,000 settlement to Drake, bringing the City’s total settlements with demonstrators against police misconduct to $13.95 million as of May 2022, all paid by taxpayers.

Williams, who was seventeen at the time, was wrongfully arrested, dragged to the ground, and zip-tied during the protest after being falsely accused of assaulting a police officer. Body camera footage later showed that she did not assault the officer, and Williams was never charged with a crime. The Police Department conducted an internal investigation into the arresting officer’s actions, though the results were not made public. The officer involved remained employed by the department as of May 2022. The settlement was reached out of court without a legal complaint or lawsuit being filed, after the civil rights group Emancipate NC notified the City of their intent to sue.

Taylor was seventeen when he was arrested and wrongfully convicted of a 1992 double murder. He said he was coerced into confessing to crimes he did not commit. At the time of the killings, Taylor was already in police custody after being arrested for causing a disturbance. His attorneys said police officers hid that evidence, which would have exonerated him. Taylor spent more than twenty years in prison before he was released in 2013 after his conviction was overturned.

Arevalo, who was twenty-three years old at the time, was standing outside of Happy Donuts when Agent Thomas DeStefano asked him if he was on probation. Arevalo tried to walk away from DeStefano, but the agent followed him and tried to pin Arevalo’s arm behind his back to detain him, before flipping Arevalo to the ground. Arevalo sued the City of Palo Alto in November 2019, accusing the Police Department of violating his civil rights by violently attacking and falsely arresting him. He sought $3.85 million for “personal injury, emotional distress, property damage, other damages, and the like,” but settled with the City for $150,000.

Krauss claimed he did not recognize Colson, who was in plain clothes, and perceived him as a threat. In 2022, Colson’s family settled a civil lawsuit with Prince George’s County, Maryland, for $400,000, the maximum amount allowed under the law. Despite the financial settlement, Colson’s family criticized prosecutors for failing to indict Krauss, who was retired by 2022. Angela Alsobrooks, the state’s attorney at the time of the incident, defended the investigation and said that the evidence did not support an indictment.

Berg filed a sex discrimination suit against the City, alleging that she was retaliated against and became the target of sexist discrimination and malicious rumors after she reported an officer for putting a fellow trainee in an unprovoked chokehold at the police academy in March 2019. After making the report, Berg said she faced discrimination and false accusations of having an extramarital affair. Officers also allegedly tampered with her training records, ultimately leading to her termination in November 2019. The settlement included $100,000 for lost wages and $300,000 for emotional distress and legal costs. Berg was one of four officers who filed claims in court related to the chokehold incident, but her case was the only one that proceeded in federal court as of 2022. Two cases from other officers were dismissed in Ada County District Court, and a third officer did not move forward with filing a case.

Scott, a Black man, was unarmed when Officer John Lee fatally shot him on February 4, 2016. Lee said he believed Scott was holding a firearm, but Scott was only holding a cell phone. Lee was never criminally charged for Scott’s killing, and he left the San Antonio Police Department in 2020.

Morales and his girlfriend were in a car on South Monitor Street when Cabrera—who was off duty and not in uniform—asked them if they needed help. The couple refused, and instead circled the block to find Cabrera still following them. Cabrera then yelled at them to leave. Morales got out of the car and went to speak to Cabrera, but Cabrera placed Morales in a chokehold, punched him, and fired his pistol at Morales. Cabrera later told a 911 dispatcher that Morales attacked him and knocked him to the ground, but an eyewitness disputed this account. Cabrera was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggregated discharge of a firearm, false reporting, and obstruction. He was stripped of police powers and later resigned from the force.

The case was settled for $300,000. In 2020, Bond was shot and injured by a police projectile during a protest in response to the murder of George Floyd by police. Bond claimed that he had been peacefully protesting and following officers’ orders, but he still had to use a tennis racket and a salad bowl as shields against the officers’ projectiles. This lawsuit was one of many filed against the LAPD that spurred reforms such as new training in the use of projectiles. 

The investigation found that officers in the narcotics bureau regularly used excessive force and violated individuals’ Fourth Amendment rights, and they also failed to report use-of-force incidents or reported them inaccurately. The new reforms included de-escalation training, new reporting mechanisms for use of force, and installing an independent monitor to oversee compliance with these changes. This settlement does not include a monetary payout.

Cox alleged that he had been “kicked, punched, pepper-sprayed, and falsely arrested by Westover officers” because he had been using his phone camera to record the officers as they drove by. Cox sustained a facial fracture as a result of the beating. Although the officers involved had apparently misplaced Cox’s phone, the interaction was caught on a nearby surveillance camera. Two years later, Cox’s phone was found in the department’s evidence room.  

On New Year’s Day in 2019, officers Dalton and Fecsko came to Howton’s apartment, responding to a call. The officers and Howton got into a verbal disagreement, which led to officers removing Howton from the doorway. Fecsko proceeded to beat him, causing bone fractures and breaking three of his teeth. The officers then charged Howton with battery and three other charges, all of which were eventually dropped.