Seattle will pay $25,000 to settle Taser complaint - Police Shocked Black Teen

A teenager who accused Seattle police of excessive force for shocking him with a Taser last year after a traffic stop has settled his claim with the city. The city has agreed to pay $25,000 to the family of the teen, who is now 17. The family's attorney, Fred Diamondstone, said the settlement was fair. "It's a good resolution," he said. "It's an acknowledgement that this was not a case that they (the city) wanted to try to defend in court." The incident took place about 1 a.m. July 5, 2003, when police pulled over the Ford Expedition in which the teen was riding, allegedly because the vehicle had a broken headlight. When officers stopped the vehicle, they saw the teen in the back seat fumbling with something and assumed he had a weapon. Officers ordered all occupants from the vehicle and frisked the teen, then tried to handcuff him. Diamondstone said his client is claustrophobic and resisted because of that. A struggle broke out and the officers wrestled the teen to the ground, one of them applying the Taser four times on his neck. After he was detained, the teen told police that his cell phone had gone off just as they pulled his friends over, and he was just trying to turn off his phone. In the end, police released the teenager to his mother, never charging him with any crime. And, on the police report detailing the incident, the officer requested that the teen not be charged. [more ]