WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Wichita officials have approved a $325,000 settlement with a man who said a police officer beat him for parking in a handicapped parking spot outside an Old Town bar.
The settlement, approved last week by the City council, resolves a federal lawsuit Marcus McIntosh filed over a beating he said he suffered in 2013 outside Joe’s Old Town Bar and Grill.
Ken Evans, the city’s strategic communications director, said officer Brian Safris no longer works for the Wichita Police Department. He told The Wichita Eagle (https://bit.ly/1MUYjdX ) in an email this week that Safris reached the rank of detective by the time his employment ended.
Safris couldn’t be reached for comment. Paul Zamorano, president of the police union, said Tuesday that Safris - an 18-year veteran of the police force - is contesting his recent firing.
The city’s Law Department recommended the settlement because of the uncertainty and risk of an adverse judgment at trial.
“The case been resolved to our satisfaction. We’re happy that we’re able to come to this resolution,” said Mark Schoenhofer, an attorney handling McIntosh’s lawsuit.
The suit named the city, Safris and former Police Chief Norman Williams. It said Williams and the Police Department “knew or should have known of . Safris’ history of angry outbursts, threats, attacks, violence, and excessive use of force.”
According to the lawsuit, Safris was working traffic enforcement in the Old Town area on Aug. 15, 2013, when he saw a red 1969 Camaro back into a handicapped parking space and McIntosh get out and go into the bar.
After not seeing a handicap placard or tag on the car, Safris went into the business and told McIntosh to step outside with him, the lawsuit said.
The two cursed at each other before Safris shot McIntosh with a stun gun, the lawsuit said. It said Safris then struck McIntosh in the face with the butt of the stun gun before throwing him to the ground and repeatedly kicking and stomping him.
It its response to the lawsuit, the city said that “Safris used reasonable force to overcome aggression and resistance” and had reason to arrest McIntosh.
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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, https://www.kansas.com
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