Vallejo Settles with Asian War Veteran for $4 Million: After Unlawful Entry into home, Police Beating Caused Paralysis

From [HERE] and [HERE] Lawyers for a Vallejo man announced Thursday that their client has agreed to a $4.1 million settlement with the city to end a federal civil rights lawsuit in which he claimed two officers severely injured him after entering his apartment without a warrant in 2007.

Lawyers for Macario Dagdagan, 62, say two Vallejo police officers investigating an alleged assault in June 2007 went into Dagdagan's apartment without a warrant, shocked him with a stun gun and put him into a chokehold that ruptured his spine and led to paralysis. A Vietnam War veteran who worked his whole life before the incident, Mr. Dagdagan is now permanently disabled and expects to have increasingly more expensive healthcare costs in the coming years as a result of the severe injuries he incurred.

They awoke Mr. Dagdagan, who was asleep in his bed, to ask him about a citizen complaint. Mr. Dagdagan then told the officers to leave, but they arrested him, fired a Taser at him twice and handcuffed him. The police officers then engaged in illegal and violent use of force that dislodged Mr. Dagdagan's vertebrae and ruptured his disk, causing immediate paralysis and permanent damage to his spinal cord.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Sacramento, alleged that the officers violated his 4th Amendment Constitutional rights by entering his home without a court-approved warrant. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that under the facts alleged in the lawsuit, the officers should have obtained a warrant because there was no emergency situation. [MORE] 

The appeals court said that, according to the lawsuit, the officers had already interviewed the alleged victim at her home before coming to Dagdagan's apartment, and knew that she was safe at her home.

The settlement was announced by attorneys Todd Boley and Peter Alfert. It is the largest police misconduct settlement in California in the past decade.

Attorney Todd Boley stated, "Under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, the police officers had no right to enter Mr. Dagdagan's home without a warrant unless it was an immediate emergency or someone was in danger. It is also widely accepted that police officers may only use sufficient force to carry out an arrest and nothing more. In this case, the police violated their oath to uphold the Constitution by entering Mr. Dagdagan's home without due cause, and they used excessive force. No one should have to endure such pain and have their rights violated in such an egregious fashion."

Dagdagan, had worked as a machinist at an oil refinery. He is now permanently disabled, walks with a limp, has weakness and pain in his extremities, and must take many painkillers each day, his attorney said.