CLEVELAND, Ohio — Garfield Heights agreed to pay $750,000 to a man with mental illness who was repeatedly punched, shocked and mocked by police officers.
The city settled the federal civil rights and excessive force lawsuit with Kenta Settles shortly before the case was set to be argued in front of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The lawsuit accused five Garfield Heights officers of attacking Settles, who has a history of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, while he walked down the street. Officers taunted him after the beating, body camera video showed.
Nick DiCello, one of Settles’ attorneys, said his client suffered “abuse and brutality” at the hands of the officers and called the case was “outrageous.”
“It’s an important settlement for our client and reflects what was seen on the video,” DiCello said. “This was a really bad one. It’s a good result to a terrible situation.”
The incident caused then-Garfield Heights Police Chief Robert Byrne to retire and sparked criticism of the department and the bail process in Cuyahoga County. Settles spent five months in the Cuyahoga County Jail on $250,000 bond before criminal charges of assaulting a police officer were dropped, which happened after body camera video was released.
Two officers named in the lawsuit — Michael Malak and Robert Pitts — also countersued Settles, claiming that Settles “falsely portrayed” himself “as the victim of unprovoked police brutality” and caused them to be “unjustifiably vilified” in public.
“They sought to bankrupt him,” DiCello said. “I’ve never seen that happen before to a citizen.”
Garfield Heights Law Director Timothy Riley said in a statement that the case resolved to the “mutual satisfaction” of both sides.
He said U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent found that officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Settles and had probable cause to arrest him. Settles’ attorneys had appealed those rulings.
Riley said more claims — including of excessive force and malicious prosecution — remained unresolved, and that the city settled the case without admitting fault.
Settles, 31, is a father of three who planned to attend barber school before the Jan. 23, 2020, incident.
That day he took a bus to visit his brother and stopped to drop off a prescription at CVS Pharmacy on Turney Road. He walked through the drive-through line because he thought the store was closed, court records say.
He got out line and allowed a driver to pull up. The driver told police he thought Settles “was a bum,” wanted money and grabbed his door handle.
Settles walked away. Malak spotted him walking about a half-mile away. Malak grabbed Settles without telling him why, shoved him up against his police cruiser and within seconds, he and Pitts tackled Settles to the ground.
The officers accused him of refusing officers’ orders, but body camera video showed Settles froze and put his hands up seconds after officers ordered him to do so.
The two officers yelled for Settles to “stop resisting” as they repeatedly punched and kicked him, including several times in the head as Settles was in the fetal position.
Pitts shot his Taser into Settles’ shoulder, and Malak shot his into Settles’ lower back, body camera video showed. The officers continued striking Settles as he writhed in pain from the Tasers.
Settles cried as several officers held Settles down for more than two minutes.
Settles suffered a chipped tooth, a rotator cuff injury and a gash near his eye. Malak’s nose was broken during the scrum.
The five officers involved in the incident were not disciplined after a police internal investigation.
