A Brooklyn man filed a lawsuit claiming that the Pennsylvania State Police falsely arrested and falsely imprisoned him. According to the lawsuit, the man was arrested on suspicion of drugged driving, and Pennsylvania authorities subsequently held him in jail for five months before he was released due to a lack of evidence.
The state police department settled the lawsuit for $150,000 on Nov. 3. As per the language in the settlement, the police neither admit to liability nor fault. The settlement covers the costs related to the man’s loss of vehicle, apartment and occupation while he was being held in jail on bail of $10,000 from June 2014 through November 2014.
The man showed in his lawsuit that he had no alcohol or illegal substances show up in his blood test taken at the time of his arrest. According to public statements from the man’s lawyer, “It was a mistake that this happened and this resolution is going to go a long way toward getting his life back on track to where it was before this happened.” The attorney made further comments that the results of the settlement will serve as a message to police that they need to correct their procedures to prevent false arrests and false imprisonments from happening in the future.
In addition to the false arrest and false imprisonment claims, the lawsuit accused the police of committing wrongdoing that was racially motivated because police did not provide any reason for stopping the man. They also said that the police committed a violation of due process laws, a denial of equal rights, and conspiring to break civil rights laws.
This case is certainly a win for civil rights. Readers of this blog can let it serve as a reminder: If police in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or anywhere else in the country mistreat you or violate your right to due process, the law may be on your side.
Source: mcall.com, “State police settle N.Y. man’s false arrest claims for $150k,” Peter Hall, Dec. 04, 2017