Delaware
County settles suit over arrest caught on video for $25,000
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware officials have agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that police used excessive force and made an unlawful arrest in an encounter with a teenage drug suspect.
A judge on Tuesday approved a stipulation of dismissal in the lawsuit filed by Roger Brown against New Castle County police following the 2019 encounter.
According to court records, Brown, who was 16 at the time, was sitting on a dirt bike at the end of his driveway talking to friends when he was approached by officers who had received a tip about drug dealing at the home.
As the officers approached, Brown started to move back into his driveway but was ordered to stop and get off the bike. Brown failed to comply and instead asked officers what he had done wrong. The officers then dragged him to the ground, leading to a scuffle caught on cell phone video that was widely distributed on local media and social media platforms.
After being repeatedly punched and threatened with a Taser, Brown relented and was taken into custody. While in the back of a patrol car, he damaged a door frame by kicking it, according to police. Police recovered marijuana, pills, a digital scale and more than $1,000 in suspected drug money from Brown’s backpack. He was charged with several drug offenses, as well as offensive touching and resisting arrest.
Brown responded with a lawsuit alleging, among other things, that police used excessive force, lacked probable cause to arrest him, retaliated against him in violation of his First Amendment rights, and violated his civil rights. A federal judge in 2021 dismissed all but the excessive force and unlawful arrest claims, ruling that an anonymous tip was not in itself a sufficient basis to forcibly subdue and arrest Brown.
In their response to Brown’s complaint, the defendants acknowledged that New Castle County police received a tip “from a concerned citizen” about drug activity at the location, but they denied that the tip was anonymous and asserted that officers had probable cause to arrest Brown. The defense also noted that police body camera footage showed Brown walking from a police vehicle to an ambulance while shouting threats and profanities at the police officers.
Florida
2 charged in mass shooting that left 11 people wounded
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Two men have been charged with gun-related crimes in connection to a central Florida drive-by shooting that left 11 people wounded last month.
Nicholas Quinton Hanson, 32, was arrested Friday and charged with possessing ammunition as a convicted felon, and Marcus Dewonn Mobley Jr., 22, was arrested Monday and charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, according to court records. If convicted, they each could spend up to 15 years in federal prison.
According to a criminal complaint, Hanson, Mobley and others fired guns at a gathering of people from a blue Nissan Altima on Jan. 30 while traveling through a neighborhood near downtown Lakeland, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Tampa. The victims all survived. Officials haven’t released specifics about a motive for the shooting but have previously called it a “targeted attack.”
The vehicle sped away after the shooting but was recovered by police the next day following a tip from the public. Police said DNA collected from shell casings and the recovered car led them to Hanson and Mobley. Officers later seized a loaded, 9 mm handgun from Hanson’s home, officials said.
A third man connected to the shooting, 21-year-old Alex Greene, was shot by police in Winter Haven, just east of Lakeland, on Feb. 6 following a long chase and a carjacking, authorities said. Greene had 10 previous felony charges dating back to 2013 and an outstanding warrant for burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary, authorities said. During a search of Greene’s vehicle, officers reported finding cocaine, marijuana, a handgun and thousands of dollars in cash.
An attorney for Hanson didn’t immediately respond to a message requesting comment from The Associated Press, and Mobley’s defense attorney said he didn’t immediately have a comment on the case.
New Hampshire
State settles 1st sex abuse claim through state fund
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire has reached its first settlement with someone who was physically and sexually assaulted at the state’s youth detention center, attorneys for the victim said Wednesday.
The state faces more than 700 lawsuits alleging abuse stretching back six decades at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly called the Youth Development Center. As an alternative to litigation, lawmakers established a $100 million settlement fund with a two-year application period that started last month.
Attorneys at the Shaheen & Gordon law firm said Wednesday they have settled one claim so far on behalf of a male client who was abused at the Manchester facility in the 1970s. Noting that litigation could take years, they said they plan to withdraw their 39 other lawsuits and pursue claims through the settlement fund instead.
“We look forward to helping obtain many more recoveries for these victims who have waited far too long for justice,” said attorney Anthony Carr.
Under the settlement fund, victims of sexual assault are eligible for base awards ranging from $25,000 to $200,000 that can be increased based on the frequency of abuse plus nearly a dozen aggravating factors, including abuse that resulted in pregnancy, perpetration by multiple people or continued abuse for more than two years. Individual payments for sexual abuse will be limited to $1.5 million, while payments for physical abuse will be limited to $150,000.
Ten men were charged in April 2021 with either sexually assaulting or acting as accomplices to the assault of more than a dozen teenagers from 1994 to 2007, while an 11th man faces charges related to a pre-trial facility in Concord. Six trials have been scheduled between this summer and July 2024.
Indiana
Man sues city, cop who he says kicked him in head
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A Black man is suing the city of Indianapolis, its police department and an officer who arrested him in 2021, alleging that the officer kicked him in the face while he was handcuffed.
The lawsuit filed last week by Jermaine Vaughn in Marion County alleges that Sgt. Eric Huxley “used excessive and unlawful force when he viciously attacked and kicked” Vaughn while arresting him at downtown Indianapolis’ Monument Circle.
Vaughn’s suit names as defendants the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the city of Indianapolis, Huxley and two other officers who were with him during Vaughn’s arrest, The Indianapolis Star reported.
The complaint, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, says Vaughn was the victim of intentional battery, unlawful and excessive force, official misconduct and negligence.
Indianapolis’ Office of Corporation Counsel said Wednesday in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Huxley was indicted by a federal grand jury in October, accused of using excessive force and charged “with violating the civil rights of an arrestee by using excessive force.” The indictment identifies the victim only as J.V., but Vaughn’s attorney, Robert B. Turner, said Wednesday that Vaughn is the victim described in the indictment.
That case is ongoing, as is a criminal case Huxley faces in Marion County, where he is charged with two felonies: official misconduct and battery resulting in moderate bodily injury.
Body camera footage that police released of Vaughn’s Sept. 24, 2021, arrest show an officer forcing Vaughn to the ground near steps at Monument Circle. Seconds later, it shows Huxley thrusting his foot down onto Vaughn’s face, according to The Indianapolis Star.
Vaughn’s lawsuit alleges that he was in handcuffs as he was being detained on suspicion of disorderly conduct.
Huxley was suspended from IMPD without pay after the 2021 incident.
After his arrest, Vaughn was charged with two misdemeanors of disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement, but those charges were dismissed two weeks later.
Turner said Vaughn was homeless when he was arrested and that the video of his arrest “tells it’s own story.”
“We’re certainly not saying that Indianapolis has a bad police department. They have great officers on the Indianapolis police department, but in this case this is an officer who simply went too far,” he said, adding that, “These are things that are happening all over the nation.”
Chief Randal Taylor has condemned Huxley’s alleged action and recommended his termination to the department’s Civilian Police Merit Board, which will review that recommendation when Huxley’s criminal cases conclude.
Nevada
Man convicted of animal cruelty in beating of dog
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A 29-year-old Reno man faces up to six months in jail after he was convicted of animal cruelty for beating and throwing his dog onto a downtown sidewalk before a passerby intervened.
Washoe County prosecutors originally charged Dennis Glenn with one felony count of willfully or maliciously torturing, maiming, mutilating or killing a dog or cat.
A jury ultimately convicted him of a lesser count of misdemeanor animal cruelty. Judge Barry Breslow is scheduled to sentence him on March 30.
Police say they were called to First Street in downtown Reno near the Truckee River about a fight in progress last April and determined it had started after a man saw Glenn beating his 2-year-old pitbull, Abando.
Police say surveillance footage showed Glenn punch the dog multiple times before picking up the animal, throwing it across the street onto the concrete sidewalk and again punching it multiple times.
Police say the dog didn’t show any aggression, was observed cowering and trying to run away.
A justice of the peace earlier found Glenn unfit to own the dog and county regional animal services placed the dog in a new home.
California
LA deputy charged with murder for crash that killed boy, 12
SOUTH GATE, Calif. (AP) — A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was charged with murder and vehicular manslaughter for an off-duty crash that killed a 12-year-old boy, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Ricardo Castro, 28, also is charged with reckless driving causing great bodily injury for the Nov. 3, 2021 crash that occurred in a school zone in South Gate.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Castro’s pickup was doing up to 95 mph on a street with a 25-mph speed limit when school children are present when it collided with a car making a left turn, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said at a news conference.
Isaiah Rodriguez was in the passenger seat of the other car and died at a hospital, authorities said.
His then-19-year-old sister was driving and she was seriously injured, while Castro and his passenger also were hurt, authorities said.
“Driving at 95 miles per hour was nearly quadruple the speed limit when school children are present,” showing a “conscious disregard for those children’s lives,” Gascón said.
Castro previously had been involved in several crashes and had received several traffic tickets, including for speeding, the DA said.
At the news conference, the boy’s mother, Betsabe Suarez, said the family is “completely broken” because of his death, KABC-TV reported.
“I love you, Isaiah, and I miss you every single day,” she said.
