Settlements

In 2016, Morrieson was walking outside when officers Daniel Soto and Ruandy Mendoza stopped him, claiming that they witnessed him selling drugs. When Morrieson asked the officers to identify themselves, they arrested him with excessive force and broke his eye socket even though Morrieson was not attempting to escape the officers, according to video footage. Morrieson, who denied being involved in a drug transaction, filed a federal lawsuit in 2018 alleging that the officers used gratuitous and unnecessary force during the arrest. The Jersey City Insurance Fund paid the $300,000 settlement amount.

On January 12, 2014, McKiernan arrested Alvarez on suspicion of dealing drugs. McKiernan then read at least one text message on Alvarez’s phone, which he used as evidence against Alvarez. According to Alvarez’s civil lawsuit, this constituted an unlawful search because McKiernan did not have a warrant. Alvarez served about three years in prison and filed a motion for a new trial in 2019, after which Massachusetts ultimately dropped the charges.

As shown in video footage recorded by a bystander, Columbus Police officers stunned Davis with a Taser eleven times and struck him dozens of times when they arrested him on warrants in 2017. Davis suffered kidney failure as a result of the beating. The eight officers involved in the arrest and subsequent lawsuit were with the Columbus Division of Police: Matthew Baker, Alan Bennett, Sean Connair, Eric Everhart, Anthony Johnson, LeVon Morefield, Robert Reffitt, and Ryan Steele.

According to the settlement terms, each woman would receive $18,500. A federal judge signed off on the settlements, which were reached following mediation mandated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Holtzclaw was accused of assaulting thirteen Black women and girls between 2013 and 2014 while on duty and off as a police officer. In 2015, a jury in a separate criminal case convicted him of multiple sexual offenses involving eight victims, and he was sentenced to 263 years in prison. The City had previously fought lawsuits that blamed police practices for his actions. In 2019, the City agreed to a $25,000 settlement to resolve a separate lawsuit accusing Holtzclaw of excessive force.

Davis died in August 2017 after his brother stabbed him. The lawsuit alleged that police violated the constitutional rights of Davis’s wife, other brother, and cousin by detaining them at the police station for over three hours instead of allowing them to visit Davis at the hospital before he died. Although these relatives were not suspects, officers questioned them at length, seized their phones, and prevented them from communicating with each other. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa and the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the officers had no probable cause for detaining the family and denied the officers’ motion for qualified immunity.

The jury also awarded Nazario $1,000 in punitive damages after Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker illegally searched Nazario’s SUV. Video footage showed the officers pointing their guns at the uniformed Army lieutenant in 2020 while commanding him to exit his vehicle. Gutierrez then pepper-sprayed Nazario through the window and knocked him to the ground when he exited the SUV. The officers claimed that they were performing their duties “within the law” after Nazario failed to immediately pull over and refused to exit his vehicle. A federal judge found that they had probable cause to stop Nazario for an improperly displayed license plate.

In June 2020, Ferreira filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against officers Derek Oagles, Frederick Mello, and Thomas Roberts. On August 17, 2017, the officers arrested Ferreira while he and a friend were waiting for a cab outside a restaurant. During the arrest, Ferreira suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, and permanent nerve damage, among other serious injuries. He also spent twenty months fighting felony assault charges for allegedly fighting with the officers, but those charges were dropped after some of the police officer witnesses failed to appear on the first day of trial.

On April 9, 2020, state troopers attempted to arrest Hornback at his home in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, for a missed court appearance. Troopers James Cameron Wright and Thomas Czartorski allegedly used excessive force during the arrest and beat Hornback. The troopers then allegedly lied under oath by claiming that they did not strike Hornback, which was later contradicted by a home security video. Czartorski, who resigned in February 2021, agreed to pay an additional $5,000.

On April 4, 2020, Sheriff’s Deputy Nikko Miller and Deputy Jeremy Jucutan stunned Anglero-Wyrick with a Taser and sicced a K-9 on him after an unsubstantiated report that Anglero-Wyrick had pointed a gun at someone earlier that day. However, they did not find any weapon, and no charges were filed against Anglero-Wyrick, who is Black. Cellphone video showed Anglero-Wyrick standing with his hands raised and empty before the deputies stunned him and deployed the K-9. The attack lasted for ninety seconds, causing severe leg injuries that required ongoing physical therapy and prevented his return to work in construction. The lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged excessive force and racial bias in law enforcement interactions.

Surveillance video from outside the bar Sophia’s Tavern showed an Erie Police officer punching McLaurin in the head multiple times during the arrest, which also involved four other Erie Police officers and a county detective. McLaurin, who is Black, claimed that the officers used excessive force and that the City fostered “a culture of a lack of accountability” by failing to discipline those involved. Although the video sparked public outcry and calls for reform—including demands for a civilian review board—none of the officers faced criminal charges or disciplinary action.

Winkle, the son of the former police chief, was later sentenced to ten years in prison and two years of supervised release. Winkle was one of four MPD officers indicted in April 2021 in a seventeen-count superseding indictment for use of excessive force and/or covering up misconduct. On multiple occasions, Winkle and other officers physically assaulted people who were not resisting arrest. In one such instance, during a traffic stop due to a missing headlight, former MPD Officer Jeremy Gibson repeatedly punched the driver, Manny Montero, in the face and Winkle delivered two knee strikes to Montero’s head. Following the incident, Winkle wrote a false report. Montero later filed a lawsuit against the City and received a $250,000 settlement. 

Taylor’s lawsuit alleged that the Town condones its police officers’ violence. As of March 2023, Lynch had been the subject of three excessive force lawsuits. He was sentenced to probation for felony perjury and assault against Taylor and can no longer be a police officer.

Mesa Police Officer Phillip Brailsford shot and killed Shaver in 2016 after police were called to a hotel to investigate reports that someone was pointing a gun out of a window. Brailsford ordered Shaver to crawl forward in the hotel hallway and then shot him because he thought Shaver was reaching for a weapon. However, Shaver was unarmed when he was killed. The officer was found not guilty of murder.

On May 26, 2019, Officer Dylan Pifer attempted to arrest Bridges for a carjacking incident, even though Bridges was not involved in the crime. According to police reports, Bridges ran, and Pifer shot him in the chest when he caught up to him. Pifer was not charged in the killing and remained on the police force as of November 2022.

On June 18, 2020, two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies pursued Guardado in Gardena after he allegedly displayed a handgun and ran away when he spotted the authorities. During the chase, Deputy Miguel Vega fatally shot him five times in the back. After declaring Guardado’s death a homicide, the coroner prompted the first inquest in Los Angeles County in over three decades. Neither Vega nor his partner, Deputy Christopher Hernandez, appeared at the inquest. As of November 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had not disclosed whether they would seek charges against Vega and Hernandez.

In December 2020, Padron was charged with firing a pistol into the air while intoxicated. Although he pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge of illegally discharging a firearm within city limits, the Palmview Police Department fired him following his arrest. His case was later dismissed after witnesses said that he was not the person who fired the pistol. Padron filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit against the City of Palmview, alleging that he did not receive progressive discipline in the same way as his female counterparts for similar situations.

On September 2, 2017, Officer Chris Viesselman tackled forty-five-year-old Brian Prince, who was suspected of stealing merchandise. Prince suffered a head injury and spent twenty-nine days in the hospital on life support before he died. Prince’s family filed a civil lawsuit against Viesselman and the KCPD, citing use of excessive force that led to Prince’s death. Viesselman was transferred to a different unit in the KCPD.

Cosenza served sixteen years in prison for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, as well as armed burglary. Cosenza was granted a new trial in 2016, and prosecutors moved to drop his charges in 2017. Cosenza filed a lawsuit alleging that police had suppressed DNA evidence to ensure his conviction. The jury found that Sergeant Kerry Hazelhurst and Sergeant John Doherty conspired to conceal and fabricate evidence.

In March 2020, Prude was having a mental health episode when police officers handcuffed him, covered his head with a “spit sock” (a mesh head covering), and forced him on the ground in a prone position. As a result of this incident, Prude was declared brain-dead and died a week later. The Rochester Police Department delayed the release of incriminating body camera footage until September 2021 to control the narrative. There was also evidence that officers had suggested making Prude a suspect, potentially to justify the use of excessive force.

When the officer shot Herrera, a veteran, with a “less-lethal” round, it caused lasting nerve damage and triggered post-traumatic stress related to his military service in Iraq. The lawsuit was one of several that argued that the APD’s use of force was unnecessary and that the “less-lethal” ammunition—including shotgun shells filled with lead pellet bags and foam bullets—was dangerous to protesters. The APD said it would no longer use the ammunition to control crowds.

In summer 2021, Simonds noticed police interviewing people in a parking lot and decided to record the interactions. Police officers asked her to leave and then arrested her for trespassing. Body camera footage showed officers discussing what to arrest Simonds for when she refused to leave the private parking lot. During her detention at Spokane County Jail, officers handled her in a rough manner and aggravated an old shoulder injury. Simonds cited excessive use of force, false imprisonment, and violation of her First Amendment rights in her lawsuit, which the County agreed to settle for $32,500 and the City agreed to settle for $25,000.

Bailey was not charged with official misconduct and prostitution because the one-year statute of limitations for misdemeanor charges ran out during the Louisville Metro Police Department’s two-year investigation. Bailey was known for obtaining search warrants based on information provided by confidential informants. He targeted low-income women who were most vulnerable to the threat of jail time if they did not participate in what he forced them to do. In 2016, Bailey was similarly investigated and cleared when a woman serving as his informant accused him of sexual assault. The Police Department failed to look through Bailey’s phone even after the woman informed them that Bailey sent pictures of his penis from his work phone, and they dismissed her claims as “unfounded” without a thorough investigation.

On May 9, 2017, Negron was driving a stolen car when Officer James Boulay pursued him. Boulay fired into the car and shot Negron multiple times when Negron accelerated and hit Boulay with the open door of the car. In 2018, State Attorney Maureen Platt ruled that Boulay was justified in using deadly force. As of October 2022, Boulay remained on the police force.

Abbe, who was homeless and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was suspected of attacking another person when officers encountered him in a parking lot. As Abbe walked toward the officers, Sergeant Jay Alie fired his gun at Abbe’s chest, followed by officers Sammy Abdala and Sean Suarez also firing. Abbe’s daughter filed the lawsuit in October 2021 for $5 million and was granted less than twenty percent of the original amount.

In January 2017, police chased Rowlett while he fled from a traffic stop and hit multiple cars and a police cruiser. Police shot Rowlett after they issued contradictory orders regarding whether he should get out of the car, and he became tangled in his seatbelt. Rowlett’s lawsuit said he was unarmed during the incident, although he had a knife in the car. The officer who shot Rowlett resigned from the Chicago Police Department.