The least complicated of four civil lawsuits against the City of Pittsburgh stemming from the G-20 Summit has settled for $170,000, officials said Wednesday.
The settlement in the case of Frank Beal, a Point Breeze man who said out-of-town police broke his kneecap, will be paid by the city's insurer, City Solicitor Daniel Regan said.
"The city and the insurance carrier together believed that this was a reasonable and prudent settlement," Mr. Regan said. "It is clear from this case that the city is going to be as reasonable as possible in these matters."
Mr. Beal, 58, sued in U.S. District Court last year, saying he was in Oakland on Sept. 24, 2009, intent on being a witness to any police brutality. When police he believed to be from Harrisburg told him to move to the next traffic light, he began to do so.
But, he was sprayed with pepper spray, forced to the sidewalk and hit with a baton, he claimed.
"We're glad it's over and that the case settled to the satisfaction of the parties, and I would hope that the city would think about resolving the other cases coming out of the G-20," said attorney Jon Pushinsky, who represented Mr. Beal and is one of the attorneys representing 25 plaintiffs in another summit-related case.
In the run-up to the summit of world leaders, the city agreed to pay as much as $3 million to Aon Risk Services Central for special insurance covering nine days of anticipated unrest.
One of the other complaints said the city suppressed protest groups before the summit.
Another said police inappropriately arrested and held two University of Pittsburgh students Sept. 24, 2009.
"It would be my hope and expectation that the City of Pittsburgh would act reasonably in attempting to settle these cases, given the nature of the harm inflicted upon ... law-abiding citizens going about constitutionally protected conduct," said the two students' attorney, Timothy P. O'Brien.
The third case involves 25 people alleging constitutional violations in police handling of a gathering in Oakland on Sept. 25, 2009, after world leaders left. The city and plaintiffs' attorneys have dueled in court over how much information the city must turn over and how quickly.
Source: http://www.post-gazette.com
The settlement in the case of Frank Beal, a Point Breeze man who said out-of-town police broke his kneecap, will be paid by the city's insurer, City Solicitor Daniel Regan said.
"The city and the insurance carrier together believed that this was a reasonable and prudent settlement," Mr. Regan said. "It is clear from this case that the city is going to be as reasonable as possible in these matters."
Mr. Beal, 58, sued in U.S. District Court last year, saying he was in Oakland on Sept. 24, 2009, intent on being a witness to any police brutality. When police he believed to be from Harrisburg told him to move to the next traffic light, he began to do so.
But, he was sprayed with pepper spray, forced to the sidewalk and hit with a baton, he claimed.
"We're glad it's over and that the case settled to the satisfaction of the parties, and I would hope that the city would think about resolving the other cases coming out of the G-20," said attorney Jon Pushinsky, who represented Mr. Beal and is one of the attorneys representing 25 plaintiffs in another summit-related case.
In the run-up to the summit of world leaders, the city agreed to pay as much as $3 million to Aon Risk Services Central for special insurance covering nine days of anticipated unrest.
One of the other complaints said the city suppressed protest groups before the summit.
Another said police inappropriately arrested and held two University of Pittsburgh students Sept. 24, 2009.
"It would be my hope and expectation that the City of Pittsburgh would act reasonably in attempting to settle these cases, given the nature of the harm inflicted upon ... law-abiding citizens going about constitutionally protected conduct," said the two students' attorney, Timothy P. O'Brien.
The third case involves 25 people alleging constitutional violations in police handling of a gathering in Oakland on Sept. 25, 2009, after world leaders left. The city and plaintiffs' attorneys have dueled in court over how much information the city must turn over and how quickly.
Source: http://www.post-gazette.com
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