City of Seattle settles use of force lawsuit highlighted by DOJ for $235K
Dec 10, 2013, 9:40 AM | Updated: 12:28 pm
The City of Seattle has settled with a 24-year-old man who claimed it was denying his access to public records over his arrest four years ago.
Sargent got into an argument with a Seattle Police officer in 2009. He pulled a bat. The officer pulled his gun. He was arrested but never charged.
Sargent sued the city to get the records of the encounter. The case went all the way to the state supreme court. With that case still pending in Olympia, The Seattle Times reports the city decided to pay Sargent $235,000 to make it go away.
The city admitted no fault, but this case was one highlighted in the Department of Justice report on police use of force.
It was used as an example of how a simple encounter was quickly escalated.
Sargent had stopped his truck in an alley to pick up laundry from his grandmother’s business when the officer approached.
