After three years in federal court, a lawsuit accusing Joplin police officers of illegal imprisonment and excessive force has cost the city of Joplin $100,000, said the city’s attorney.

The lawsuit stems from an incident on June 5, 2012. According to a lawsuit, Joplin police barged into a man’s hotel room that night, repeatedly shocked him with a taser, watched him defecate in his pants, then took him to a hospital where he was placed in a psychiatric hold and forced to take medication.

The police report from that night tells a different story. Joplin police say they responded to a reportedly suicidal man, were allowed inside his hotel room, tried to ease his discomfort at one point, then took him to the hospital.

Here’s what the lawsuit said: Sometime during that June 2012 day, Cris Christenson of Kansas and his estranged wife had an argument over the phone; the pair had split two weeks prior.

Later that day, Christenson arrived in Joplin for a business meeting, checked in at the Hampton Inn on 36th Street, picked up dinner across the street at an Outback Steakhouse, then returned to his hotel room, where he had another tense phone argument with his estranged wife, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says that’s when his estranged wife made a phone call to the front desk of the Hampton Inn that began a roughly 36-hour ordeal for Christenson.

The estranged wife told the front desk staff they had a suicidal lodger consuming alcohol and prescription pills, and soon after the Joplin police were knocking on Christenson’s door, the lawsuit said.

According to Christenson’s account, he did not give permission to the Joplin police officers to enter his room and he wasn’t sure why the officers would believe he was suicidal — there were no pills or alcohol visible. Christenson, the suit said, sat on his bed and ate his dessert while the officers searched his hotel room.

The officers told Christenson he was under arrest, the lawsuit said, and when Christenson did not put his hands behind his back, they used a taser on him. Christenson explained he had a dislocated shoulder that made it painful to put his arms behind his back, but the officers repeatedly used a taser him, the lawsuit said, eventually causing him to defecate in his pants.

The officers let him shower, then took him to Freeman Hospital in Joplin for a psychiatric hold, the lawsuit said.

It took 36 hours before Christenson was evaluated by a mental health professional, who deemed him not a danger to himself, the lawsuit said, and during that time he was “coerced … into taking medications without any explanation as to what the medications were or what their intended effects were to be.”

The police report from that night confirms some of Christenson’s claims — that he was shocked with a taser repeatedly and defecated in his pants, that there were no pills or alcohol in his room — but also contradicts parts of the lawsuit.

The police report says officers were given consent to enter the room. The report also says Christenson pulled away when officers tried to handcuff him and that warnings were given that he would be shocked with the taser if he did not comply.

Christenson told the officers he was going to defecate, the report said, but police decided he couldn’t be allowed to use the restroom due to officer safety. After he defecated in his pants, Christenson was allowed to shower, the report said.

Officers later changed the placement of the handcuffs from behind Christenson to in front of him to relieve his shoulder pain, the report said.

The decision to arrest and transport Christenson for a psychiatric hold was based on statements his estranged wife made to police after she spoke with the hotel staff, the police report said.

According to the police report, the estranged wife told Joplin police Christenson was an alcoholic on Xanax who was attempting suicide that night.

The police report said the estranged wife was going to email a statement of what her husband said to her on the phone that day, but when the News-Leader requested the statement this week, Joplin police said they did not have the document.

According to Sgt. Trevor Duncan, all three named in the lawsuit — John Watkins, Steven Feken and Shawn Dodson — are still employed by the Joplin Police Department.

Christenson’s settlement with the city released all three officers of any future litigation related to the June 2012 incident.

The total cost of the settlement was $160,000. The city of Joplin paid $100,000 out-of-pocket, and the remaining $60,000 was paid by the city’s insurance, said city attorney Peter Edwards. The city used outside counsel that was paid through the city’s insurance, he said.