Columbus spends another $600,000 on police-related lawsuits, including police suing city
Columbus City Council approved nearly $600,000 in additional costs related to city police lawsuits Monday, including $300,000 for a man accidentally shot by police in 2015 while they were trying to arrest him at his home on the South Side.
The other almost $300,000 is to pay a law firm to defend the city against a case filed by three city police officers who contend they were falsely charged with crimes during racial justice protests and rioting in Columbus in the aftermath of the 2020 murder of George Floyd Jr. by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
The $300,000 settlement, approved unanimously by City Council, deals with a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the Columbus Division of Police by James England, who was shot at his house while wearing handcuffs after Officer Keith Abel stumbled as he tried to pull England through an opening on a patio door.
Abel had England with one hand while holding his firearm with the other, according to a court document, when the officer was flipped onto the porch rather than vice versa.
Two of England's dogs, including a pit bull, were on the patio acting aggressively at the time of the shooting. Police initially told The Dispatch in 2015 that Abel was shooting at the dogs and accidentally hit England, but that story changed later.
Review panels differed on whether the officer's actions, which resulted in England being accidentally shot twice, were "inappropriate and outside of policy," with one panel finding it was. But former Police Chief Kim Jacobs overruled that determination, said Rich Coglianese, city solicitor general for Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein's Office.
A court document says that Jacobs found Abel's actions "intentional," because the officer thought England might get control of his firearm.
England, who was 29 at the time, was sentenced in 2016 to 13 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault and one count of attempted felonious assault. The charges stem from the incident that police were attempting to arrest England on attacking three men with a metal pipe during a road-rage incident in 2014.
The biggest financial exposure the city has in "these types of cases" is attorneys' fees, Coglianese told the council, which in this case he estimated could be as high as $700,000. "So we believe that a $300,000 settlement in this case is appropriate," he said.
The council approved another almost $300,000 to pay the law firm of Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor LLC to defend the city in the alleged wrongful charges cases brought by three police officers — two in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and one in federal court.
All three of the cases "come out of the same basic set of facts," Coglianese said, which involves the city's decision to hire an independent investigator to determine if any criminal charges should be filed over the way police treated protesters and others during the 2020 demonstrations, rioting and vandalism in 2020 — including the use of mace. Officers Traci Shaw and Phillip Walls and Sgt. Holly Kanode charge that the special investigator failed to follow basic investigatory procedures in determining the three should face various changes, such as assault, dereliction of duty and interference with civil rights.
The criminal cases against Wall and Shaw were later dismissed. Kanode was ultimately found not guilty at trial. The city's total projected legal fees for the officers' three cases against the city now stands at just under $450,000.
In other business Monday, the council:
Increased by $3 million, to $3.6 million, funding for emergency housing for displaced residents of the Colonial Village Apartment complex on the East Side near East Livingston Avenue and Barnett Road. The complex, which includes 508 units spread across more than 20 acres, was shuttered in December for problems like bed bugs, rodents, water and fire damage and a lack of utilities after going into court-appointed receivership in early 2022. The money will go to the Community Shelter Board, which is now temporarily housing 1,300 people, officials said.
Approved $1.5 million to develop Alkire Road Park on 25 acres of farmland the city acquired in 2007 at 6084 Alkire Road. Upon completion this spring, the park will feature a 7,900-square-foot playground, an open-air shelter, and an asphalt path connecting to the Camp Chase Trail as well as a driveway and parking lot. "The park will also include a meandering natural surface walking loop, open green spaces (and) strategically placed benches," according to the ordinance.
Granted a zoning variance to allow for an existing dwelling at 44 E. Duncan St. in the University District to be converted into a shared living facility for people with disabilities who are unable to live independently, but do not need the full service provided by a nursing home. The "Melissa’s House" project would provide 24-hour, seven-day-a-week care for between nine and 15 residents. New Housing Ohio, Inc. will spend $1.5 million to renovate the original 1905 house, which is 3,583 square feet, and its 2014 addition of 2,936 square feet, which sits on .31 acres.
wbush@gannett.com
@ReporterBush
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Police-related lawsuits cost Columbus taxpayers another $600,000
