Settlements

Francisco-Martinez was in her vehicle in June 2020 when a police cruiser driven by Chicago Police Officer Juan Blanco hit her at ninety-eight miles per hour. Blanco, who claimed he was in an active pursuit, had failed to follow orders from the Police Department to terminate the pursuit before the collision occurred. The settlement with Francisco-Martinez’s family marked the third large settlement in 2022 related to an individual killed during a police pursuit in Chicago. The Chicago Police Department changed its policy for vehicular pursuits in August 2020, mandating that marked police cars with lights and sirens activated must take the lead and that officers must consider “the requirement to protect the public from the danger created by eluding offenders” while in pursuit.

Prince confessed to the 1991 shooting death of Edward Porter after Chicago Police Detective Kriston Kato physically assaulted Prince while he was handcuffed to a wall. Kato, who was accused of routinely framing people suspected of crimes, retired from the Chicago Police Department in 2006. Prince was granted a new trial in 2017, where his charges were dismissed after four witnesses said they saw another man shoot Porter.

She filed a suit against the City and NYPD detectives Richard Hall and Eddie Martins in 2018, alleging unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, and sexual assault. She claimed that the officers raped her in the back of a van after she was arrested for a low-level drug offense in September 2017. Martins and Hall were arrested a month after the incident, but the charges were ultimately dropped after the prosecutors questioned the woman’s credibility. Hall and Martins later pleaded guilty in 2019 to bribery and official misconduct and were sentenced to five years of probation. In addition to her settlement with the City, Chambers also settled with Hall and Martins for an unknown amount.

On May 30, 2020, peaceful protesters outside Cleveland’s Justice Center were met with pepper spray, pepper balls, and wrongful arrests by Cleveland Police. Protesters were held in jail for as long as three days before being released without charges, and others were released with charges that were later dismissed. Twelve individuals then sued both the City and more than two dozen Cleveland Police officers. In addition to the $540,000 payment, the City of Cleveland agreed to help those who were charged expunge their records and to provide more training to police officers to handle crowd control at future protests.

On January 7, 2019, police responded after Novak’s neighbors reported that he was drunk, shouting racial slurs, and shooting a gun toward their home. However, Novak did not have a gun, and they had mistaken the sound of Novak slamming a baseball bat against his own truck for gunshots. Rankin shot Novak, killing him. Prosecutors cleared Rankin of any wrongdoing in August 2019, and Novak’s family filed a lawsuit days later. Novak’s father had already settled with the City for $250,000, but Novak’s mother and sister did not reach their settlement until the day they were set to go to trial. The $4 million marked one of the largest settlement payouts in a wrongful death lawsuit against Spokane concerning its police force. As of September 2022, Rankin remained employed with the Spokane Police Department and had been promoted to detective.

On July 10, 2018, Blasingame was asking for money from passersby on the street in Atlanta, Georgia, when Officer John Grubbs approached him, and Blasingame took off running. Grubbs fired his stun gun at Blasingame from about ten feet away, hitting him in the back of the head and causing him to fall on his face, which left Blasingame paralyzed. Due to the incident, Blasingame requires around-the-clock care at a cost of $1 million per year. A federal jury found that Grubbs, who remained employed by the Atlanta Police Department as of August 2022, used excessive force to restrain Blasingame, who was not actively under arrest. The Atlanta Police Department was ordered to pay Blasingame $60 million, while Grubbs was ordered to pay $40 million.

On May 1, 2016, eighteen-year-old Sarria, a college student, was driving through an intersection in Miami, Florida, when her vehicle struck Medina’s police cruiser. Sarria claimed that she was following a green traffic signal while Medina ignored a red signal. The lawsuit claimed that Sarria suffered injuries to her back and neck, and she subsequently underwent a total of twenty-one months of chiropractic manipulation and physical therapy. The lawsuit alleged that Medina was negligent in the operation of his vehicle and that the City of Miami was liable because the accident occurred during Medina’s performance of his job duties.

On January 14, 2020, officers Dionne Holiday and Kevin Christmon responded to a call at East Silver Spring Elementary School because Grant’s son had left school grounds and reportedly “did not wish to return.” According to body camera footage, the officers screamed in the boy’s face, grabbed him by his arm, and handcuffed him. The lawsuit accused the officers of assault, false arrest, and causing emotional distress. Due to the incident, the Montgomery County Police Department implemented changes in officer training on how to properly interact with students at schools. The settlement was paid out from Montgomery County’s Self-Insurance Fund, with $220,000 paid on behalf of the officers involved and $55,000 paid on behalf of the Board of Education.

According to the complaint, the officers’ supervisor racially harassed them, physically assaulted them, and retaliated against them for opposing the harassment. They filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Philadelphia District Office, which found cause that SEPTA had violated the officers’ Title VII rights. After unsuccessful conciliation efforts, the EEOC referred the charges to the Department of Justice. The consent decree requires SEPTA to implement anti-discrimination policies and provide trainings for its employees, in addition to paying a total of $496,000 in damages to the officers.

On March 18, 2018, officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet were responding to reports of a person breaking car windows when they saw twenty-two-year-old Clark and chased him into his grandmother’s backyard. The officers, believing Clark was holding a gun that was actually a cellphone, shot at Clark twenty times and hit him with at least seven bullets. The officers were not charged with any crime. Clark’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City and the two officers. The 2022 settlement followed an earlier settlement in 2019, in which the City agreed to pay $2.4 million to Clark’s sons, then ages two and five.

On September 15, 2018, Greensboro Police Officer Thomas Webster IV confronted Black following a 911 call that Black was roughly dragging a twelve-year-old boy (who was a friend of Black’s family) down the road. Webster tried to arrest Black, who fled on foot. Two off-duty officers, former Ridgely Police Chief Gary Manos and Centreville Police Officer Dennis Lannon, tried to help Webster arrest Black. When Black ran to his family’s home and got into a car, the officers smashed the car window and used a stun gun on Black, then handcuffed him and shackled his legs before he stopped breathing. The lawsuit accused the police of using excessive force, rejecting the officers’ claims that Black was high on drugs and exhibiting “superhuman” strength at the time of the incident. Black’s family said he had been diagnosed with a severe form of bipolar disorder and was experiencing a mental health crisis. The settlement agreement required the three towns to update their policies governing police use of force and to provide officers with training on mental health, implicit bias, and de-escalation techniques.

After the Police Department posted a video concerning a search of a home where officers suspected residents of growing one more marijuana plant than legally allowed, allegedly for medicinal purposes for a child who had seizures, Sgaggio commented: “You target sick kids to get your overtime pay ... That’s why you are a pig.” The Police Department removed his comment, prompting him to post other comments on their social media, which they also deleted. Then-Police Chief Miles De Young ultimately blocked Sgaggio from posting on the Police or City Facebook pages. Sgaggio’s attorney argued that even vulgar language is protected as free speech. The City agreed to the $65,000 settlement—the largest settlement ever reached in a case of a public official blocking someone on Facebook. Under the settlement, the City deleted the section of its social media policy allowing employees to remove posts deemed inappropriate or vulgar.

On October 3, 2018, sheriff’s deputies stopped Okobi on suspicion of jaywalking and subsequently used their Tasers, batons, and pepper spray on him. After Deputy Joshua Wang deployed his Taser seven times, Okobi suffered cardiac arrest and died. The County District Attorney’s Office cleared Wang and four other deputies of any criminal charges. The incident spurred calls for a moratorium on Taser use in San Mateo County. The Sheriff’s Office later revised its use-of-force policy, advising against deploying Tasers more than three times against a person unless there are exceptional circumstances. Okobi’s death also influenced reforms to California’s jaywalking law that limited law enforcement’s ability to stop pedestrians for minor infractions.

In 2012, Cardile was at her then-boyfriend’s home in Yonkers when they had an argument, and he called the police. The responding officers demanded Cardile produce her driver’s license. Cardile alleged that as she was walking to retrieve her license from her vehicle, four male officers pushed her to the ground without provocation, kicked her, lifted her by the throat, and threw her against the trunk of her car. The officers then took her to a holding cell. Several hours later, Cardile received treatment at a hospital for a hand fracture and arm injuries. Cardile filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2014 alleging that the officers used unreasonable and excessive force. Although the City denied any wrongdoing, they settled with her for $50,000. 

During the party, Ramos’ sister called 911 and asked police to remove an unwanted visitor. According to Ramos’ lawsuit, Springfield officers Matthew Rief and Herminio Rivas Jr. arrived at the party and announced their intention to arrest Ramos, even though he was not the unwanted visitor. Ramos raised his hands in surrender to the officers, but Rief proceeded to strike Ramos over the head with a steel baton and later maced him in the face. Ramos suffered a fractured skull and other injuries that required plastic surgery.

In 1992, Ricks was convicted of fatally shooting his friend Gerry Bennett in the head outside of a restaurant. During the investigation, police seized a gun that belonged to Ricks’ mother and claimed that it was the murder weapon. After the case was reopened in 2016 on request by the Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan Law School, further examination revealed that the bullets that killed Bennett did not match the ones found in Ricks’ mother’s gun. An expert working for the City testified during depositions that the original bullet analysis by the police lab had been completely wrong.

Two guardians of children who were present at the incident were also awarded $15,000 each. In January 2020, two Baltimore County police officers, S. Brennan and B. Schmidt, arrived at Mellerson’s home to arrest her daughter for disorderly conduct. Mellerson alleged that the officers were hostile and used a Taser and pepper spray. At one point during the encounter, an officer pushed Mellerson to the ground. The incident was recorded via the officers’ body-worn cameras. Mellerson initially faced charges of interfering with an arrest, obstructing and hindering, and assault, but those charges were dropped. Both the Baltimore Police Chief and County Executive condemned the actions of the officers, who were still employed by the Baltimore County Police Department as of 2022.

Green, a Black man, was driving in Tampa when he experienced a diabetic emergency and struggled to control his steering wheel. After a nearby motorist called 911, police reached Green but did not get him the immediate medical attention he needed. Instead, they handcuffed him and put him in a prone position (meaning face-down on the ground) where he struggled to breathe and later died. In addition to an undisclosed financial settlement, the Tampa Police Department agreed to make changes to its procedures on how officers handle cases where people are held in a prone position. Green’s family requested an official apology from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor because she was Tampa’s Police Chief at the time of Green’s death, but Castor refused.

Henderson agreed to pay $25,000, and Las Vegas Metropolitan agreed to pay $65,000. In 2020, Henderson Police officers pulled over Brown, who was twenty-three years old at the time, for driving without his headlights on. The officers then arrested Brown because they believed he had an outstanding felony weapons warrant in Las Vegas. However, the actual subject of the warrant was a five-foot-eleven, forty-nine-year-old white man with a bushy beard and blue eyes, and Brown is a five-foot-seven Black man. Brown spent six days in two different detention facilities before officers recognized their mistake. The $90,000 settlement is near the $100,000 maximum that Nevada law allows when suing a government entity.

Portland Police Sergeant Nicholas Goodman killed twenty-two-year-old Baker in Portland’s Union Station Plaza in 2017. Baker was experiencing a mental health crisis and holding an air rifle at the time of his killing. After multiple 911 calls reporting Baker’s behavior, Goodman joined other officers at the scene and fatally shot Baker within minutes of arriving. A federal judge denied Goodman qualified immunity from the case, which allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

On April 16, 2022, one of Baca’s daughters called 911 to report that Baca, who experienced dementia and was in the midst of a mental health crisis, was threatening her family members with a knife. Cosper arrived on the scene and asked Baca to drop the two knives she was holding sixteen times in forty seconds before fatally shooting her twice. Cosper spoke to Baca in English, although Baca spoke only Spanish. Bodycam footage indicated that Baca’s daughter and granddaughter had been trying to explain Baca’s mental illness to officers, but Cosper told them to “back up” while he aimed his gun at Baca. As of July 2022, the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office had not decided whether to charge Cosper, but the City settled with Baca’s family for $2.75 million, the maximum amount possible.

On May 29, 2018, Officer Casey Davies responded to a call about two armed robberies in Salt Lake County. James was suspected of robbing the stores while armed with an airsoft gun and fleeing on his motorcycle. Davies allegedly hit James with his patrol vehicle and then shot him multiple times, and James later succumbed to his injuries. Following an investigation, the Salt Lake County District Attorney determined that Davies’ use of deadly force by vehicle in a collision was not justified, but declined to charge Davies with a crime. Davies is no longer employed as an officer in Cottonwood Heights. The settlement was paid through Cottonwood Heights’ insurance provider, Utah Local Governments Trust.

On January 6, 2021, Macduff’s roommate called the police to say that Macduff was experiencing a mental health crisis. Macduff was sitting alone in his pickup truck, unarmed, when six police officers arrived and requested that he exit the truck. When he did not comply, officers fired three beanbag rounds into his windshield. Officer Gabriel Maldonado then fired five close-range gunshots at Macduff, killing him. The officers had called Macduff’s mother, who is a doctor, during the standoff so she could talk to her son as she had helped de-escalate similar situations in the past, but she was disconnected and not contacted again for two hours. As part of the settlement, the Police Department agreed to implement several reforms, including using body cameras department-wide, transitioning from beanbag shotguns to foam projectiles as non-lethal options, clarifying the language in the department’s use-of-force policy, and creating additional de-escalation training. Maldonado resigned from the Tigard Police Department and began working as a Port of Portland police officer four days later.

McIntyre was seventeen years old when he was arrested for the shooting deaths of two men in 1994. McIntyre was released in 2017 after a local prosecutor asked the court to vacate his convictions and drop all charges because prosecutors in the original trial had no physical evidence tying McIntyre to the murders and had largely relied on testimonies that were allegedly coerced. In a lawsuit filed in 2018, the McIntyres alleged that starting in the 1980s, Detective Roger Golubski had made sexual demands of Rosie and threatened to arrest her and her boyfriend if she did not consent. Golubski went on to sexually assault and harass her, and she moved to escape the abuse. Later, Golubski allegedly framed her son in the double homicide case. The lawsuit also alleged that Golubski repeatedly abused and exploited Black women for sex and then used them as anonymous “informants” to clear his other cases or to protect drug dealers. Over seventy women whom Golubski allegedly victimized were listed in the pretrial order. Since Lamonte’s incarceration, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Rosie was in and out of psychological treatment for years and was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Golubski worked at the Kansas City Police Department as a Captain until his retirement in 2010, receiving a full pension, and then went to serve as a Detective at the Edwardsville Police Department until 2016. The Unified Government did not admit to wrongdoing through paying the settlement.

Roberson was on duty as a security guard at a lounge when a fight broke out that resulted in shots being fired. Roberson was holding down the gunman in the parking lot, with his own weapon aimed at the gunman, when Officer Ian Covey arrived at the scene. Covey claimed that Roberson was not clearly identified as a security guard, and he ordered Roberson to drop his weapon. Covey then shot and killed Roberson. Multiple witnesses at the scene disputed Covey’s account and said that Roberson was wearing both a hat and a shirt that identified him as a security guard. The Roberson family fought for charges against Covey, but the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said there was not enough evidence. The $7.5 million went to Roberson’s young daughter, whom he never had the chance to meet.