Settlements

Jaime Bunkholt, an Atlanta-based photographer, alleged in her federal lawsuit that an unidentified Minneapolis police officer fired a rubber bullet that hit her in the back of the head. Bunkholt sustained permanent and temporary injuries, including a concussion, from the attack. The Minneapolis City Council agreed to settle Bunkholt’s lawsuit by paying out $500,000.

Potter initially detained Wright for an expired tag and an illegal air freshener and later found out that he had an outstanding warrant. Potter, who had a trainee with her, then proceeded to shoot and kill Wright after alleging she mistook her gun for a taser. The 26-year police veteran was later sentenced to two years in prison for manslaughter. Wright’s murder occurred less than a year after the Minneapolis Police Department murdered George Floyd and occurred less than 10 miles away.  Additionally, the settlement is “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 requires new policies and procedures for Brooklyn Center Police Officers, including trainings that focus on implicit bias, weapons confusion, de-escalation, and how to navigate mental health crises.

Hutchins Sr. was pepper sprayed and beaten with batons by a Springfield police officer while he was trying to defuse a domestic incident. The jury for the case found that, “the city of Springfield had a custom of failing to discipline officers and this custom demonstrated deliberate indifference to the rights” of citizens.

After Aguirre left a one-vehicle wreck in 2013, police officers responded, approached him, flipped him over a median onto the ground, put their weight on him for five and a half minutes, and waited an additional three minutes before giving him medical aid. The family originally filed suit back in 2015. The medical examiner in this case ruled Aguirre’s cause of death as “positional asphyxiation” and “excited delirium.” The latter term is overwhelmingly used in police custody deaths, although the medical examiner did rule Aguirre’s death a homicide. The settlement came after the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals had determined that SAPD officers were not entitled to qualified immunity in the case.

The lawsuit was connected to a 2020 March to the Polls event, where sheriff’s and police officers pepper sprayed marchers, including children and the elderly, for blocking a street without permission. Under the terms of the settlement, both the police department and sheriff’s office do not claim any responsibility for the incident.

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

Jackson Jr. and Stallings were in a parking lot in Minneapolis in May 2020 when a Minneapolis SWAT team member fired 40mm plastic projectiles which hit Stallings in the chest. Body camera video footage shows that the SWAT team drove around in an unmarked white cargo van, firing plastic projectiles at people out after a curfew imposed in the wake of protests over the murder of George Floyd. Stalling mistook the officers for white supremacists and responded to being shot at by firing back with his pistol. Stallings, an Army veteran, was acquitted of all charges and testified that he missed on purpose. The officers jumped out of the van and, even though Stallings and Jackson both tried to surrender, and video shows them on their knees with their hands up, they beat Stallings for 30 seconds, and beat and tased Jackson for two minutes. 

In June 2014, then 21-year-old Xavier Ingram, came across three Camden County police officers on foot patrol, conducting a ‘sweep’ of an apartment complex when he was walking to a store. When Ingram exited the store, he was approached by two officers, Antonio Gennetta and Nicholas Marchiafava, who later jumped and handcuffed him even though he had already surrendered by laying on the ground with his hands in front of him. Officer Jeremy Merck came to the scene while Ingram was being arrested. The officers are accused of stomping on the back of Ingram’s neck and back and striking him. Ingram suffered severe injuries to his cervical spine due to the arrest and is now a quadriplegic. Ingram’s lawsuit claimed that Camden County officers used excessive force, which resulted in Ingram’s quadriplegia. The Camden County officers initially claimed that Ingram slipped and fell on his own regard, without any police interaction, but that claim was later shown to be false.

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

In 1996, Keith Cooper was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery. Cooper filed a lawsuit against the Elkhart Police Department claiming that their police officials, including detective Steve Rezutko, framed him 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 later identified the shooter as a man who was convicted of murder in Michigan in 2002. Cooper was the first Indiana man to be granted a pardon based on actual innocence in 2017.

Cooper’s co-defendant, Christopher Parish, was exonerated and awarded a nearly $5 million settlement in 2014.

Drake was attempting to give aid to an injured protester in downtown Austin when police shot and injured her with a beanbag gun. Drake asked surrounding officers to help her after she was shot, but they did not. The City of Austin agreed to pay an $850,000 settlement to Drake. This settlement brought the total of Austin City Council’s settlements to demonstrators against police misconduct to $13.95 million, all paid by taxpayers.

Williams, who was 17-years-old at the time, was at a protest when she was arrested by Raleigh police officers who dragged her to the ground and zip-tied her hands, accusing her of assaulting a police officer, but Williams was never charged with a crime. Attorneys with Emancipate NC, a civil rights group representing Williams, notified the city of Raleigh in June 2021 of an intent to sue. However, the City settled before a legal complaint or lawsuit was filed.

Taylor was 17 when he was arrested and wrongfully convicted in 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. Taylor’s attorneys believe that CPD officers hid evidence which would have exonerated him. Taylor spent 21 years in prison before he was released in 2013 after his conviction was overturned.

Arevalo, who was 23 years old at the time, was standing outside of Happy Donuts when Agent Thomas DeStefano asked Arevalo if he was on probation and then attempted to detain him. Arevalo tried to walk away from DeStefano, but DeStefano followed Arevalo and tried to pin Arevalo’s arm behind his back to detain him. City of Palo Alto in November 2019, accusing the Police Department of violating his civil rights by violently attacking and falsely arresting him. He was seeking $3.85 million for "personal injury, emotional distress, property damage, other damages and the like,” but settled with the City for $150,000.

Scott, a Black man, was unarmed when he was killed by Officer Lee on February 4, 2016. Lee alleged that 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 SAPD 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 and then began to follow them and yelled at them to leave. They did not, and instead circled the block to find Cabrera still following them. Morales got out of the car and went to speak to Cabrera, but Cabrera placed Morales into a chokehold, punched him, and fired his pistol . Cabrera later told a 911 dispatcher that Morales attacked him and knocked him to the ground, but an eyewitness disputed account. The case was settled for $200,000 and was paid for by the City Council’s Finance Committee.

In 2020, David Bond was shot and injured by a police projectile during a protest in response to the murder of George Floyd. Bond claims that he had been peacefully protesting and following orders from officers, but still had to use a tennis racket and a salad bowl as shields against the projectiles. This lawsuit was one of many filed against the LAPD, which has spurred reforms such as training in the use of these kinds of projectiles.

The lawsuit alleged that Zarro and Corbsiero experienced harassment and were subjected to a hostile work environment because Seely and McDonald had been working together to put Zarro and Corbsiero’s careers at risk as retribution for their refusal to engage in illegal acts. Seely had attempted to hinder an Internal Affairs investigation led by Zarro into one of Seely’s colleagues and personal friend. Additionally, it is alleged that Seeley tried to interfere with cases involving his children. In one instance Corbsiero still charged Seely’s son with careless driving despite the pressure Seely put on him to dismiss it.

The investigation found that officers in the narcotics bureau often used excessive force, regularly violated individual’s Fourth Amendment rights, and often failed to report these incidents or reported them inaccurately. The new reforms will include de-escalation training, new reporting mechanisms for instances of force, and installing a separate, independent monitor to oversee compliance with these changes.

Cox alleged that he had been “kicked, punched, pepper-sprayed and falsely arrested by Westover officers,” because Cox was using his phone camera to record the officers. As a result of the beating, Cox sustained a facial fracture. Cox also claimed that the phone had been misplaced by the officers involved, but the interaction had still been caught on a nearby security camera, and two years later Cox’s phone was found in the WPD’s evidence room. The settlement is being paid by the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance, and there was no admission of liability by the City nor the officers involved.

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. The officers proceeded to beat him, causing bone fractures and breaking three of his teeth. The officers then charged Howton for battery and three other charges, but the charges were eventually dropped. No liability is admitted from the City or police officers from the settlement.

In 2020, King came to Nichols’ front porch and claimed that Nichols had been ignoring his orders and that he had reached for a gun, which was actually a decorative BB gun. In her lawsuit, Fields notes that the BB gun “was used as a decorative spindle in the porch railing” and alleges that King had been to Nichols’ property before and should have known that. King shot Nichols three times. King was not wearing a body camera despite the County’s policy requiring it, and he was not indicted for this shooting. As of April 2022, King was still employed by the County and was one of their highest paid sheriffs.

Slocum claimed that his disabilities had not been accommodated, as he lives with migraine headaches, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and ADHD. After disclosing his disabilities, people around him raised their concerns about whether or not Slocum “posed a significant threat” to himself or others, leading to an internal affairs investigation putting Slocum on administrative leave for months. He also claimed that he was retaliated against because of these disabilities and the treatments he participated in to alleviate symptoms. 

In 1998, Mr. Bryant was convicted of murdering Toni Bullock, a 16-year-old girl, and spent 17 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. He was later exonerated through the use of DNA evidence in 2016, and his family filed a lawsuit three years later against the Baltimore Police Department and Detectives William F. Ritz and Barry Verger, arguing that they did not disclose exculpatory evidence and . The case was settled for $8 million and was paid for by the City. Mr. Bryant passed away less than a year after he was released from prison.

Johnson claims that Officer Ronald Ayala was speeding and/or failed to keep a lookout for pedestrians and fractured both of Johnson’s knees after running him over. Ayala claimed that this was because he, along with his partner, had been following another SUV that had been driving recklessly with no headlights on. However, Deputy Corporation Counsel Mimi Ruether said that Ayala’s crash report did not include any accounts of the SUV. Neither the police car nor the officers had camera equipment. The City Council’s Finance Committee authorized a settlement of $400,000.