Boston pays $1.4M to settle suit against officer
Mar 14, 2012, 2:26 PM
BOSTON (AP) – The city of Boston has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a man who says a police officer tackled him and placed him in a choke in 2009, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to work.
The settlement with Michael O’Brien, of Methuen, came nearly three years after the men’s March 16, 2009, scuffle.
The arresting officer, David Williams, was recently fired for using excessive force.
O’Brien says Williams knocked him to the ground while he was videotaping another police officer with a cellphone during a traffic stop. O’Brien tells The Boston Globe (
http://b.globe.com/zdbrDK) that he lives with debilitating dizziness and headaches.
Williams’ lawyer says his client contends he did nothing wrong and there is no admission of liability in the settlement.
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Information from: The Boston Globe,
http://www.boston.com/globe
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