Columbus, Ohio, has reached a deal to pay a settlement to a Black man violently arrested in 2018 for an unpaid traffic ticket.
Attorneys for the city and Cameryn Standifer made the agreement as a jury deliberated the outcome of a federal civil trial in late November. Standifer’s lawyers said that when Columbus Police officer Brandon Harmon slammed him, it exacerbated their client’s injuries from a car accident three months before, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
“On behalf of our client, we are extremely pleased with the outcome of settlement negotiations,” Attorney Jessica Olsheski said. “This will improve Cameryn’s opportunities for success in his life going forward.”
Standifer filed the suit against Harmon in September 2019. He initially also named the city, four other CPD officers, Franklin County, where Columbus is located, and three workers inside the Franklin County jail. By the time of the 2022 trial, the other defendants were removed from the suit.
Standifer’s team initially asked the court to reimburse him for his medical bills totaling over $1 million and for compensation for his suffering, but eventually settled with the city on Nov. 18 for a much smaller amount while the federal jury was on the second day of deliberations.
The settlement award will compensate Standifer for the new injuries and the emotional pain and distress he sustained during the arrest. The man will not be compensated for an infection he was diagnosed with days after being released from jail.
Standifer was arrested on Aug. 1, 2018, at a home on the far east side of town. Police received multiple complaints about illegal activity and entered the residence with the permission of the owner. While there, the police took the identification of all the people inside the home.
