Settlements

In September 2020, Churna called 911 and said that a stalker was trying to kill her. Officers who arrived at her apartment suspected that Churna may have been experiencing mental health issues. The officers asked Churna whether she owned a firearm. Churna complied with officers’ demands to get on the ground, but officers fired their guns at her. She was shot by Officer Daniel Mendoza while face down on the ground and unarmed. The medical examiner later recovered six rifle bullets from her body and ruled her death a homicide. 

The Minneapolis City Council approved a $50,000 settlement in April 2022. In March 2021, McKizzie, who was seventeen years old at the time, was exercising at a gym when he heard loud noises and went outside to investigate. As McKizzie tried to cross a street, Officer William Gregory stopped him, shoved him aggressively, and punched him. Other officers grabbed McKizzie by his hoodie and pulled him, then pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him. Officers took him to a local detention center and later sent him to a hospital in an ambulance, using two sets of handcuffs. McKizzie was subsequently taken back to the detention center but was never charged. This incident was recorded by both the officers’ body cameras and a civilian, and an internal affairs investigation was launched soon after. 

In June 2020, a dozen activists filed a civil suit claiming that the Denver Police Department used excessive force during protests against police brutality and racial injustice. A federal judge issued a temporary injunction barring the Police Department from using tear gas, plastic bullets, flash-bang grenades, and other “less-than-lethal” force unless approved by a senior officer in response to specific acts of violence. After a three-week trial, a jury ruled in favor of the activists. While Denver had previously settled civil complaints due to police violence during the 2020 protests, this was the first in the nation to go to trial.

In March 2017, Hardy filed a report with the Nome Police Department claiming that she had been raped in her home. Hardy filed the complaint with Lieutenant Nick Harvey, but her complaint did not get a case number. Upon following up with the Police Department later, action still was not taken. After a third attempt, she learned that her accusation had never been escalated, and a year and a half later, the assailant had not been charged. Hardy filed a suit and was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska. The settlement included $750,000 in compensation and an apology issued by the City of Nome. Hardy said she believed that her case was just one of many sexual assault reports by Alaskan Native women that were backlogged by the Nome Police Department.

In March 2020, thirty-three-year-old Manuel Ellis was stopped by police officers in Tacoma, Washington, while he was walking home from a convenience store with a box of doughnuts and a bottle of water. Witnesses reported that the officers attacked him without provocation. Three officers held Ellis to the ground on his chest by kneeling, despite Ellis expressing that he could not breathe. Two Pierce County sheriffs responded to the scene and assisted in handcuffing and hogtying Ellis. Ellis’ family filed a federal lawsuit over his death, and they reached a settlement with Pierce County in March 2022. 

Salas-Sanchez, who was twenty-two years old at the time of his death, was shot and killed by Officer Mando Kenneth Gomez. The responding officers claimed that Salas-Sanchez was holding a box cutter when he lunged at officers, but he was actually holding a brake pad. Lawyers for the Salas-Sanchez family disputed the officers’ version of events and pointed out that the medical examiner’s report showed that Salas-Sanchez was shot three times in the back, indicating that he was running away from the officers. Officer Gomez was acquitted of manslaughter charges in 2019. 

In October 2017, an alleged altercation broke out outside of ZAR Nightclub. Officers claimed that Redrick was arguing with a group of men and eventually pointed a loaded firearm at them. Officer John Turnure then approached Redrick and shot him several times. Following the shooting, Pruiett allegedly grabbed Redrick’s gun and shot at Turnure, and Turnure shot Pruiett several times. Pruiett claimed that he and his brother had been getting something to eat when someone picked a fight with them, and therefore Redrick was acting in self-defense. Pruiett was acquitted of a charge of felonious assault against a police officer, and Redrick was found guilty of a misdemeanor for inducing panic. Turnure was cleared of charges, and the brothers reached a settlement. 

After another officer claimed he smelled marijuana on a passenger, Officer Tyler Gelnett ordered Coates out of the vehicle and inappropriately searched her, placing his hands in her “crotch area” and inside of her underwear. The City of Louisville agreed to pay $50,000 to settle Coates’ lawsuit in March 2022.

Minneapolis Police Department officers fired rubber bullets at protesters without warning during a 2020 protest in response to George Floyd’s murder, with one rubber bullet shooting out Stevenson’s eye. Stevenson bled for months and suffered permanent damage, and he subsequently sued the department. This lawsuit was one of many 2020 general liability claims that an actuarial study estimated could cost Minneapolis more than $111 million, $84 million of which stemmed from thirteen officer misconduct claims tied to incidents within fifteen days of Floyd’s death.

In May 2020, Megan Matthews was at a protest when an officer fired a rubber bullet at her, resulting in two surgeries to repair various injuries to her head. Two days later, Youssef Amghar, a Marine veteran, was protesting in Denver when the police shot pepper balls and threw tear gas canisters at them. Amghar and other protesters sued the City. In February 2022, the Denver City Council agreed to settle Matthews’ case for $575,000 and their portion of Amghar’s case for $250,000. 

Atlanta Police officers stopped Goldring and accused her of jaywalking in October 2015. The officers arrested her, allegedly while using an anti-trans slur, and accused her of trafficking cocaine in a stress ball. Although Goldring’s lawyer asserted that the officers’ tests came back negative for cocaine, Goldring was charged with cocaine trafficking and spent six months in a male jail, where she was assaulted. Goldring was released and had charges dismissed after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation ran additional tests that came back negative. A federal jury required Atlanta to pay Goldring $1.5 million.

Smith was homeless and asked officers to take him to the hospital. While waiting for an ambulance to arrive, several officers threw Smith to the ground and hogtied him—restraining both his arms and legs and then binding them together. Smith was unable to breathe, cried out for help, and died shortly after. Smith’s family filed a lawsuit, leading to the $2.57 million settlement. City records revealed that seven of the eight officers involved in Smith’s case later received merit pay increases. 

Officers attempted to question Bailey in 2019 about an alleged robbery and shot him in the back as he ran away. He died as a result of those gunshots. Despite agreeing to the settlement resulting from a lawsuit brought by Bailey’s parents, the Police Department maintained that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.

In February 2016, Officer Gregg Bigda and other officers arrested a group of teenagers who were suspected of stealing an unmarked police car. A video showed Bigda yelling profanities at the teenagers and claiming he could plant drugs on them and kill them in a parking lot. Bigda was acquitted of criminal charges of excessive force and abusive interrogation following the incident, but the arrested teenagers also brought two civil cases. One case was settled for an undisclosed sum on February 3, 2022. As of February 2022, the other case was still pending and Bigda was on paid leave due to the investigation. 

It also requires that previously affected journalists be paid a total of $825,000. The ACLU-MN originally brought the case as a result of journalists being attacked and arrested by MSP officers during the racial justice protests in 2020 and 2021 following the murder of George Floyd. The $825,000 settlement and a permanent injunction by a federal judge prevent MSP officers from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists, seizing recording equipment, and telling journalists to disperse. The settlement also requires the deployment of a media ombudsman and liaison during future civil unrest. 

Officers responded to a call alleging that Spiers was engaging in domestic violence toward his girlfriend. While officers found no evidence of any attack, Officer Terrance Stangel beat Spiers with a baton and broke two of his bones. Stangel faced criminal charges for his actions, and Spiers was awarded $700,000 in court. A federal judge imposed sanctions on the City for withholding evidence in the case. The case is believed to be the first criminal trial of a police officer in San Francisco for on-the-job use of force. Stangel was charged with four different felonies: battery with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and assault under color of authority. A jury later acquitted Stangel of the first three charges and failed to reach a consensus on the fourth charge, which resulted in a mistrial. 

Mannix alleged that he faced workplace discrimination and harassment for being gay. Police sergeants repeatedly made derogatory comments about Mannix’s sexual orientation, leading him to sue the department in 2018. While the City settled the suit for $225,000, it is unclear if the sergeants involved faced any punishment for their behavior.

NYPD Officer Vincent D’Andraia shoved Zayer to the ground during a protest in Brooklyn. Zayer was subsequently hospitalized, and she experienced a concussion and a seizure, among other serious injuries. A video of the incident went viral online, and Zayer filed a lawsuit. New York City agreed to pay $387,000 to settle the case in February 2022. In a rare move for police settlements in the United States, D’Andraia was required to personally contribute $3,000. In addition, D’Andraia faced a criminal charge of misdemeanor assault as a result of the encounter. 

According to Wright’s lawsuit, Provenza had a well-known reputation for using excessive force even prior to her 2017 experience with him. During the traffic stop, Provenza allegedly dragged Wright out of her car, handcuffed her, and hit her in the knee, which tore her ACL, despite Wright’s compliance with the arrest. Canaan agreed to pay Wright $160,000 in compensation in February 2022.

Howell and Evans each sustained serious injuries from beanbag rounds shot by police during the demonstrations. Howell, who suffered brain damage, received $8 million, which at the time was the highest amount ever awarded in an excessive force case involving an Austin police officer. Evans received $2 million. The immense backlash to the violent police response to the demonstrations resulted in the indictment of at least nineteen officers accused of excessive force, and it led the Austin Police Department to stop using less-lethal weapons such as beanbag rounds.

In August 2019, then-Officer Shawn Jenkins brought a seventeen-year-old boy whom he mentored through a youth program to his house. Jenkins subsequently threatened the teenager with a stun gun and sexually assaulted him. The parties reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount in January 2022. Jenkins was fired from the department following the investigation in 2019, and criminal charges against him remained pending as of January 28, 2022.

Michael Acker was attending a demonstration in Denver, Colorado, in response to the murder of George Floyd when a Denver police officer shot Acker in the eye with a foam projectile. Acker needed stiches and was left with vision problems. He filed a lawsuit in October 2020, and the City settled his case for $500,000.

In 2012, Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) planted drugs on and subsequently arrested Kyle Knox and Shaune Berry. Both served two years in jail before charges were dismissed. The corrupt task force often targeted people by planting evidence, and many of those targeted served time after being convicted. Prior to this $195,000 settlement, Baltimore had already spent more than $13 million compensating victims of GTTF as of January 2022. 

After pulling Hollins over for an alleged license plate issue, Sergeant Michael Bongiovanni and Officer Robert McDonald punched him in the face and stomped on his head, even though Hollins had put his hands up as directed. Both officers were later fired and indicted for assault by a grand jury. Bongiovanni pleaded no contest to aggravated assault, and McDonald was found guilty. Hollins filed a lawsuit alleging that police leaders had ignored the officers’ pattern of excessive force and falsified reports, and the Gwinnett County Commission settled the suit for $400,000 in January 2022.

In June 2020, Joel Alejo was sleeping in his family’s backyard in Palo Alto when an officer, Nick Enberg, ordered his police dog to bite Alejo while the police were searching in the area for a kidnapping suspect. Alejo was subsequently taken to the hospital because of his injuries. In January 2022, the City settled Alejo’s case for $135,000, yet Enberg remained on the force with a police dog as of September 2021. This was the fifth police misconduct lawsuit that Palo Alto settled between February 2016 and January 2022, costing a total of $1,282,500.