The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday morning to pay Andrew Collins $500,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit.
Collins claims two white officers used excessive force and seriously hurt him after a chase in 2010.
Council members say for race relations and financial reasons, now is the time to settle this lawsuit. It’s been a black eye for the city for more than a year. A traffic stop went terribly wrong and was captured on a squad car camera.
In Collins' civil rights lawsuit against the city and three officers, he claims they used excessive force, denied him medical treatment and seriously injured him during the arrest. See the complaint here.
Collins' attorney, Don Tittle, said the settlement is a good resolution to a bad situation and that it's an acknowledgement by the city that his client's civil rights were seriously violated by members of the police department.
Council member Dwaine Caraway spoke out in outrage and the time and says now it’s time to pay up to reduce the chance of a lengthy and expensive lawsuit.
“Financially, it’s important for him to move on with his life, for the department to move on and restructure if necessary to make sure things like this don’t reoccur. It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s not one that we should continue to fester,” said Caraway.
With this vote, the city will now pay Collins $500,000 from this year’s budget.
The officers were fired, indicted and are still facing felony charges.
