News

Actions

Denver settles excessive force suit

Posted

The Denver City Council awarded $140,000 on Monday to a woman who sued the city's police department over a claim of excessive force.

City Council voted unanimously to authorize the payment. In return, Irene Rodriguez will drop her civil lawsuit stemming from an incident on April 22, 2010, in which she says she was thrown to the ground and handcuffed.

A U.S. District Court judge earlier this year dismissed most of the claims in Rodriguez's lawsuit. The city opted to settle the remaining claim of excessive force against three officers.

According to the lawsuit, Rodriguez answered a knock about 2 p.m. at the front door of her Morrison Road home and a woman covered in blood asked whether she could use a phone.

Rodriguez, who was age 41 at the time, speaks Spanish and does not understand English, according to the suit. She handed the woman a phone and followed her outside, where a man had been stabbed and was covered in blood.

Read the full report at The Denver Post