Prince George's County will pay more than $1 million in liability insurance for a police brutality case, where a suspect was beaten so severely in 1997 that he lost an eye--because the county government failed to promptly notify its insurer, according to a new court ruling last week. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruling affirmed what the Prince George's County Circuit Court had previously held, which argued the county "breached its duty under the policy by failing to give [Local Government Insurance Trust] requisite notice of the claim against the county." County officials would not comment on the case for this report. The case first made national headlines in June 1997 when Prince George's County police beat a motorist with metal batons so severely that the man, Freddie McCollum Jr., lost his right eye and use of his left hand--after police stopped him for not having a front license plate properly displayed on his car. McCollum, 50, who was not carrying his drivers' license at the time of the traffic stop, motioned police to follow him to his house. But county police, who had no search warrant, chased McCollum into his home, cornered him in his attic, and repeatedly beat him with their batons--crushing and splintering his facial bones, resulting in the loss of his right eye. Authorities then turned a police dog on McCollum after he was beaten, resulting in multiple dog bites. [more
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