Resolution calls for county to pay $150K to a Black man punched by a white officer while handcuffed
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Officials in a Tennessee county have introduced a resolution to pay $150,000 to a Black man who was filmed being struck by a white police officer while he was handcuffed.
Hamilton County commissioners are expected to vote next week on a resolution approved Wednesday that would allow the $150,000 payment to Charles Toney and his attorneys to settle a lawsuit stemming from a 2018 arrest, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
A bystander took video of the arrest that shows a Hamilton County Sheriff’s detective punching and kicking Toney while he’s handcuffed. Toney filed a lawsuit in 2019 claiming his constitutional right against excessive force was violated during the arrest on outstanding felony warrants.
Toney was also charged during the arrest with assault, resisting arrest and tampering with evidence but prosecutors later dismissed those counts.
A federal judge ruled in January that there were genuine issues of material fact as to whether excessive force was used. Punching handcuffed suspects in the face, even if they spit in an officer’s face, may amount to excessive force, the filing says. The parties were ordered to meet for mediation and report by Feb. 16 whether a settlement was reached.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment because the legal matter is still pending but spokesperson Matt Lea said in an email Thursday that in Sheriff Austin Garrett’s opinion “yesterday’s commission resolution speaks for itself.”
The Hamilton County attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment and Toney’s attorney declined to comment.