Rockford pays $50,000 to settle police excessive force lawsuit

ROCKFORD – City officials have agreed to pay $50,000 to a man who accused a Rockford police officer of beating him during an arrest.

Antonio Lamont Williams, 48, was a burglary suspect who in the early morning hours of July 3, 2017, was found outside his mother's residence in the 1200 block of 8th Street by Rockford officers Nathan Milne and Dustin Perone.

A self-described "drug user," Williams wrote in a handwritten federal civil rights lawsuit that he attempted to leave the area when he saw police arrive because he didn't want them to find drug paraphernalia in his possession. Steps away from his mother's backdoor, Williams writes that Milne threw him to the ground and began to pummel him with a fist.

Although police said Williams was resisting arrest, Williams said he was "shielding and protecting" his face and head from punches.

"Officer Milne never gave me the chance to roll over and to allow me to surrender to him or Officer Perone," Williams wrote. "The moment I hit the ground, Officer Milne started to punch and hit me in my face and head."

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Milne was hired by the Rockford Police Department in January 2012. He had briefly lost his job in 2016 after his ex-wife accused him of domestic violence. No charges were filed and Milne was later re-instated.

As he investigated a 2017 burglary at a nearby tavern, Milne suspected Williams who he knew from a previous arrest. Milne worked to track down Williams whose clothing and description matched the person police were looking for from the burglary.

Milne says in court documents he didn't throw Williams to the ground and that they both slipped and fell. Milne said that Williams refused to comply with commands, resisting handcuffs and struggling to keep his arms free. Police were not equipped with body cameras at the time.

Milne said he hit and punched Williams five times before deploying his TASER. When the shock was ineffective, Milne punched Williams three more times, cutting open Williams' forehead.

"Those punches also overcame his active resistance, reduced him to submission and making plaintiff’s handcuffing possible," city lawyers wrote in a statement of facts.

Milne called for an ambulance when he saw the blood, the documents say.

Williams says he curled himself into a fetal position while punches landed and he was then shocked with a TASER in the chest while he was on the ground. Williams said he was hospitalized for three days because of head and face injuries he suffered during the arrest.

Williams was convicted of burglary, but charges of aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting arrest were dropped. Williams remains in prison on a six-year sentence stemming from an unrelated conviction.

City Council agreed on Monday to settle the civil rights lawsuit.

Legal Director Nicholas Meyer said neither the city or Milne are admitting to any wrongdoing. Meyer said given how much money was being sought by Williams, the cost of a potential trial and the risks a trial poses, it was best to settle.

"We always analyze whether or not it is in the best interests of the city to settle for a variety of reasons and that's what happened in this case," Meyer said. "We thought it was in the best interests of the city and the taxpayers to settle rather than proceed to a trial."

Williams wrote in court documents that at the hospital he overheard Milne tell a sergeant that the injuries were caused by a fall into a tree while attempting to flee. But Williams says that Milne wrote in a police report that the injuries came from falling into a fence.

Williams also disputed Milne's claims that Williams was attempting to stand up during the attempted arrest.

"I was never 'actively resisting' the officers to avoid arrest," Williams wrote in court documents. "But more afraid to give both officers my wrist to be cuffed out of not knowing what the officers would have done to me if I was cuffed up."

Jeff Kolkey: jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford pays $50,000 to settle police brutality lawsuit