Paterson paying $610,000 to settle case in which police officers were taped viciously beating handcuffed suspects
By Jayed Rahman
Published: January 5, 2017
The city is paying $610,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by two men who alleged police officers viciously attacked them while handcuffed in an incident that was captured on surveillance camera.
Council members approved settling the lawsuit filed by Alexis Aponte and Miguel Rivera without making any public comments on Wednesday evening following a closed-door meeting with police brass.
Aponte and Rivera were pulled over outside of 220 Kearney Street on September 3rd, 2013 at about 3 a.m.
Police ordered Aponte, who was the passenger, out of the vehicle. He was handcuffed. He was then “assaulted and battered” by a dozen police officers in front of his house. Aponte was “punched and kicked multiple times while handcuffed and almost knocked unconscious,” reads the lawsuit.
Aponte was dragged by his feet on the sidewalk, says the lawsuit. Rivera, driver of the vehicle, was dragged out of the vehicle and “continuously beaten and kicked” by the police officers. Both men say they were “were handcuffed, lying on the ground and completely helpless” when the vicious beating occurred.
The council approved the settlement in an 8-0 vote in a special meeting on Wednesday night.
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