NYC Jury awards shoplifter $500K for broken ankle - SFGate
NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn jury has awarded more than $500,000 to a man who sued the city for a broken ankle he suffered during an arrest for shoplifting.
The jury awarded Kevin Jarman $510,000 on Wednesday for the injury.
The 50-year-old Jarman had filed the suit after pleading guilty to shoplifting at a Queens Pathmark in 2011.
The New York Post (Crook wins $510K suit against cops for arrest injury | New York Post ) reports that Jarman has received other payouts from the city.
In 2005, he sued the NYPD for false arrest after a drug sale charge was dropped. The city settled for $15,000.
Last month, the city settled for $20,000 after Jarman sued police for false arrest in another drug case.
More:
“Some of these verdicts are just nuts,” said a law-enforcement source. “There’s no rhyme or reason to the figure they come up with. These guys are getting huge paydays, and for what? A broken ankle? Half a million? To a shoplifter? It’s getting out of control.”
In the shoplift case, Jarman claimed that 5-foor-5 Sgt. Samuel Morales approached him inside Pathmark after a store clerk reported a theft. The suit said the cop was intimidated by the 6-foot-2 Jarman.
Morales “appeared to be afraid of Plaintiff because of his size” before slapping on handcuffs but quickly turned nasty once he was safely shackled,” said the suit.
Jarman told Morales to loosen the cuffs, but the cop yanked on them instead and caused the towering unemployed chef to tumble over, papers state.
The suit claimed that Jarman couldn’t steady himself because Morales had his boot purposefully holding his foot in place.
“Sergeant Morales, in effect, tripped Plaintiff,” the suit stated.
Morales and another officer named in the case, Alex Safran, laughed at his collapse and threatened to post footage of it on YouTube, according to the suit.
Jarman spent nine days in Jamaica Hospital.
It took jurors just a few hours to deliver Wednesday’s shocking windfall verdict.
“This shows that a regular person who has his rights violated can still go to court and do something,” Jarman’s lawyer, Anthony Ofodile, said of his client.
The perpetual plaintiff told The Post he was surprised only by the size of the jury’s mammoth award.
“I’m doing great,” he said.
“We are going to fight this verdict,” vowed senior city lawyer Muriel Goode-Trufant.
NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn jury has awarded more than $500,000 to a man who sued the city for a broken ankle he suffered during an arrest for shoplifting.
The jury awarded Kevin Jarman $510,000 on Wednesday for the injury.
The 50-year-old Jarman had filed the suit after pleading guilty to shoplifting at a Queens Pathmark in 2011.
The New York Post (Crook wins $510K suit against cops for arrest injury | New York Post ) reports that Jarman has received other payouts from the city.
In 2005, he sued the NYPD for false arrest after a drug sale charge was dropped. The city settled for $15,000.
Last month, the city settled for $20,000 after Jarman sued police for false arrest in another drug case.
More:
“Some of these verdicts are just nuts,” said a law-enforcement source. “There’s no rhyme or reason to the figure they come up with. These guys are getting huge paydays, and for what? A broken ankle? Half a million? To a shoplifter? It’s getting out of control.”
In the shoplift case, Jarman claimed that 5-foor-5 Sgt. Samuel Morales approached him inside Pathmark after a store clerk reported a theft. The suit said the cop was intimidated by the 6-foot-2 Jarman.
Morales “appeared to be afraid of Plaintiff because of his size” before slapping on handcuffs but quickly turned nasty once he was safely shackled,” said the suit.
Jarman told Morales to loosen the cuffs, but the cop yanked on them instead and caused the towering unemployed chef to tumble over, papers state.
The suit claimed that Jarman couldn’t steady himself because Morales had his boot purposefully holding his foot in place.
“Sergeant Morales, in effect, tripped Plaintiff,” the suit stated.
Morales and another officer named in the case, Alex Safran, laughed at his collapse and threatened to post footage of it on YouTube, according to the suit.
Jarman spent nine days in Jamaica Hospital.
It took jurors just a few hours to deliver Wednesday’s shocking windfall verdict.
“This shows that a regular person who has his rights violated can still go to court and do something,” Jarman’s lawyer, Anthony Ofodile, said of his client.
The perpetual plaintiff told The Post he was surprised only by the size of the jury’s mammoth award.
“I’m doing great,” he said.
“We are going to fight this verdict,” vowed senior city lawyer Muriel Goode-Trufant.
Last edited:
