City to pay elderly man injured while handcuffed by police
Settlement comes as the police department faces intense scrutiny over charges of excessive force by some officers
The Board of Estimates is set to pay $50,000 tomorrow to settle a lawsuit from a man who said he sustained injuries requiring surgery after being handcuffed by a police officer three years ago.
The latest settlement comes at a time when the Baltimore Police Department has been hit with numerous lawsuits claiming violent arrests (here and here), a video showing a policeman repeatedly striking an unarmed man at a bus stop, and pledges by Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to root out overly aggressive officers.
James V. Dunnigan, now 72, said he was falsely arrested and handcuffed on October 28, 2011, after he tried to make contact with his grandson, who was being arrested on the 2500 block of Washington Boulevard.
Dunnigan said he tried to talk to his grandson and remove his dirt bike, but was barred by Officer Latasha McBride, according to the settlement memo submitted to the Board of Estimates.
McBride said she arrested Dunnigan after he repeatedly refused to obey her orders and tried to push past her to see his grandson.
Dunnigan’s arrest “caused others in the gathering crowd to become louder and more unruly,” according to the settlement memo. Summoned by a Signal 13 call, a paddy wagon arrived and took the handcuffed Dunnigan to Southwestern District. He was later transported to Central Booking, where he complained of pain but said he would get medical treatment on his own.
After being released on October 29, Dunnigan sought medical aid at Saint Agnes Hospital. “Dunnigan alleges that the handcuffing caused his previously treated and recurrent injuries to be exacerbated, causing him to need an additional reparative surgery,” the memo said.
After charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing an arrest were dismissed against him, Dunnigan filed a lawsuit against Officer McBride in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
The case was settled over the summer, court records show, with the city agreeing to pay $50,000 to Dunnigan in return for dropping his lawsuit and not speaking publicly about it.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Board of Estimates routinely approve such settlements without debate or any public comment at their Wednesday meetings.
10/15/14 UPDATE: The settlement was approved today by BOE in unanimous voice vote.