Settlements

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.

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.