Report: Pittsburgh paid more than $460K to settle police-related lawsuits last year

Pittsburgh paid out more than $400,000 to settle five lawsuits brought against the city and its police bureau in 2020, according to an annual report released this week.

In that same time, 15 more lawsuits were filed against 22 officers, including several that stem from protests against police brutality in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

City and police officials declined to comment on litigation or legal settlements.

A majority of the $464,000 paid in police-related settlements comes from an October settlement with the family of a child who was severely injured when a pursuit by Pittsburgh police ended in a crash. The girl was 12 at the time of the 2015 crash, and she and her family received $392,000 in the settlement.

The girl, identified only as DH in the federal lawsuit, was in the backseat with a friend when police began pursuing her brother, who was driving. The chase came after police said the man failed to stop at a stop sign in Larimer and continued through multiple neighborhoods. It ended with a crash near Baum Boulevard and Broughton Street.

The lawsuit alleged negligence and a failure to train officers properly regarding vehicle pursuits.

Around the same time, the city settled a different lawsuit for $40,000, this one brought by a Knoxville woman who alleged excessive force by officers in March 2015, when she awoke to find them in her living room. The altercation that followed ended with the woman facing charges and suffering from a broken elbow and dozens of bumps and bruises, according to the lawsuit.

The city also paid $13,000 to the wife of a man shot and killed by police in 2017 when they were responding to a report of a burglary in the man’s home. Another $16,000 went to a Mt. Washington man to settle his claims of excessive force, and $3,000 to another woman to settle a claim of illegal search and seizure.

There is no real pattern to be gleaned in comparing settlement amounts: $209,353 in 2019, more than $5.5 million in 2018, and $56,500 in 2017, previous police reports show.

In 2018, the city settled with Leon Ford Jr. for more than $5 million. Ford was shot and paralyzed during a 2012 traffic stop that turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

The same is true of new lawsuits filed against the bureau and officers each year. Fifteen lawsuits were brought in 2020, naming a combined 22 officers. Fourteen cases were filed in 2019, 11 in 2018 and 11 in 2017. Claims include false arrest or imprisonment, excessive force, illegal search and general civil rights violations.

At least three lawsuits filed last year stem from protests in late May and early June in the aftermath of Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. One, a class-action lawsuit, alleged civil rights violations by police brass and the mayor.

Another federal lawsuit was filed by a bystander who said he was not involved in the June 1 protest but was struck in the face by “an unknown munition” and knocked unconscious. The lawsuit alleges the man suffered facial fractures.

In the Court of Common Pleas, a woman sued the department for allegedly failing to redact her name in documents that named her as having turned over video evidence related to protest arrests. She alleged detectives assured her she would remain “completely anonymous,” according to the lawsuit.

Already in 2021, City Council approved a $55,000 settlement for William El. El was 22 in 2013 when he and his brother, then 19, were approached by Pittsburgh officers outside a Homewood convenience store and asked if they were old enough to buy cigarettes. According to the lawsuit, El was slammed against a wall and his brother was shot with a Taser until he was unconscious.