Officers

Lawsuit Alleges Columbia Police Used Excessive Force

A 26-year-old Jefferson City man has sued the city of Columbia and two police officers, alleging that the officers unlawfully arrested him outside a bar in July 2014 and used excessive force in detaining him. Jordan R. Pfenenger is asking for unspecified damages against the city and two officers, Lori Simpson and Patrick Corcoran, attorney fees and for the court to issue several …


Family Files Lawsuit After Police Kill Northern California Man

Attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Friday on behalf of the family of Joseph Mann, who was fatally shot by Sacramento, California, police last month. The lawsuit says Mann displayed “overt signs of being in the midst of mental crisis” before he was shot, and that police should not have used lethal force. Video shot by a bystander and released at a news conference Friday …


Modesto to Pay $850,000 to Settle Police Lawsuit

Modesto has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed against the city that claimed one of its officers used excessive force and was negligent when he shot a distraught, suicidal man armed with a pocketknife in 2010. The shooting left Brian Reed, 46 – a former truck driver and dispatcher – disabled and with cognitive deficits because of the lack of oxygen to his brain after being …


Lawsuit Claims Pamela Smart Was Wrongly Placed in Solitary Confinement

A lawsuit claims that Pamela Smart was wrongly put into solitary confinement after a prison guard found a plastic cake knife in her cell. Pame Smart is serving a life sentence in a New York prison for her role in the 1990 murder of her husband, Gregg Smart, in Derry. In a federal lawsuit, Pame Smart alleges that the guard confiscated the knife in 2012, even though she had it for 17 years and it …


Family of Mentally Disabled Man Killed by Long Beach Police Files Federal Lawsuit

The family of a mentally disabled man who was shot and killed by Long Beach police last year filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the city. The lawsuit contends Long Beach officers violated Mharloun Saycon’s civil rights by using excessive force and wrongfully killing him. The suit identifies Vuong Nguyen as the officer who shot and killed the 39-year-old.


Judge Rejects Camden OT Settlement

Lydia Chapman is the first woman to reach the rank of captain in the Camden Fire Dept. ‘s 147-year history. A federal judge has rejected a proposed settlement of a lawsuit alleging former Camden City police officers were denied overtime pay. …



Koschman ‘Cover-Up’ Now Part of Police ‘Code of Silence’ Lawsuit

The botched investigation of a homicide involving a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley has become part of a federal whistleblower lawsuit filed by two Chicago police officers who claim a “code of silence” permeates the Chicago Police Department. The two cops argued in a court filing Monday that former police Cmdr. Joseph Salemme, a defendant in their case, should have to testify about his …


Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Over WW II Veteran’s Death

The family of a 95-year-old World War II vet, who died in July 2013 after a Park Forest police officer fired beanbag rounds at him when he threatened police with a knife, has agreed to a settlement of a federal lawsuit against the officer and the village, according to court documents. Sharon Mangerson, stepdaughter of John Wrana Jr., filed the wrongful death complaint in June 2014, seeking $5 …


Washington Man Gets $100K for Excessive Force in 2014 Arrest

A Washington man who was repeatedly punched, Tasered and bit by a police K9 during a 2014 arrest will get a $100,000 settlement for the beatdown. The city of Tukwila, Wash., agreed to settle the civil rights lawsuit filed by Linson Tara, who was the victim of excessive force when cops attempted to arrest him for yelling and screaming in a UPS freight yard. The suit not only won Tara …