Camden County OKs $10M settlement of Xavier Ingram lawsuit, but says not 'right decision'

CAMDEN - Camden County has agreed to a $10 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by Xavier Ingram, a city man who was paralyzed during an encounter with county police officers in June 2014, according to an attorney in the case.

The payment "is believed to be the largest police brutality settlement in New Jersey, and among the largest in U.S. history," said Beth Baldinger, an Essex County attorney for Ingram.

But a spokesman said Camden County agreed to the settlement "based on an insurance carrier making a business decision and forcing the hand of Camden County."

"We do not believe this is the right decision," the spokesman, Dan Keashen, said Monday.

Camden County admitted no wrongdoing in resolving the eight-year lawsuit, he added.

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How we got here

The settlement came after a jury hearing Ingram's claims deadlocked following a month-long trial on March 29.

In his suit, Ingram said he fell while running from police and that an officer, Jeremy Merck, stepped on his neck and caused his paralysis from the neck down.

He alleged two other officers — Nicholas Marchiafava and Antonio Genetta — assaulted him and mishandled him after his injury.

Police claimed Ingram, then 21, injured himself in his fall on a rain-slicked street near 7th and Chestnut streets in Camden.

The night-time incident was recorded on a grainy surveillance video.

Each side offered different accounts of the incident, and presented expert witnesses who split over the cause of Ingram's injury.

Ingram, who currently lives in a nursing facility, testified from a stretcher during the trial in Camden federal court.

'I can't breathe'

He told jurors he had screamed "I can't breathe" and had lost feeling in his legs as he was being kneed in the neck.

He claimed Merck stepped on his neck, causing him to black out from pain, according to Baldinger.

At the time of the mistrial, Keashen described Ingram's claims as "pure fiction."

He asserted Monday that Ingram had "ducked" between two cars where a stolen gun was found and had heroin in his possession 'when he slipped and fell without being touched while running from police officers … "

In her statement, Baldinger asserted Ingram's jury had heard evidence that the heroin was planted on her client.

"Three officers gave conflicting stories about who found drugs, when and where they were found," she said.

Baldinger also asserted the jury heard "uncontroverted evidence" that police had no justification for any use of force.

She said charges brought against Ingram following his arrest — possession of drugs and a stolen gun — were dismissed "within two weeks of the civil trial concluding."

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Xavier Ingram police lawsuit settled by Camden County NJ