A federal civil rights trial alleging police in the Seattle suburb of Tukwila used excessive force in the 2011 arrest of an intoxicated 60-year-old man, who was handcuffed and then pepper-sprayed at a bus stop, ended suddenly this week when the city agreed to pay the victim $300,000, reports the Seattle Times. David Earl Lott sued the Tukwila Police Department alleging two officers, Zachary Anderson and Jacob Berry, shoved him against the bus stop and took him to the ground, where he was arrested and handcuffed.
He was slammed on the trunk of a patrol car after he was handcuffed, according to dash-camera video of the incident, which also shows Anderson directing a blast of pepper spray into the handcuffed man's face. He was driven to the police station before the irritant was washed from his face, according to the lawsuit. Lott alleged the Tukwila department has displayed a “pattern and practice” of the unconstitutional use of pepper spray, and he sought an injunction stopping its officers from using it without justification.