Repeatedly punched and tased by Kansas City police officers, a black teenager was recently awarded $325,000 to settle an excessive force lawsuit against the police department.
On October 12, 2019, a 17-year-old parked his vehicle in the parking lot of an O’Reilly Auto Parts store while waiting to pick up friends from Hogan Preparatory Academy’s homecoming dance. According to the lawsuit, Officers Blayne Newton and Jacob Dee entered the parking lot before activating their emergency lights.
After Officer Newton ordered the teen to exit the vehicle, the teen asked what he did wrong. Instead of answering the question, Newton and Dee grabbed the teen by the shirt collar as he exited the vehicle before tackling him to the ground.
Dee reportedly knelt on the teen and punched him at least ten times as the teen screamed, “Why are you punching me?”
Recorded on police dash cam video, Newton ordered Officer Shantasa Murray to tase the teen, who remained on the ground. After Murray tased the teen, Newton told him, “You are going to get it again.”
The lawsuit stated that the teen suffered injuries to his head, mouth, ribs, knee, and legs, as well as emotional distress. Although the teen was placed under arrest, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office later dismissed the charges against him.
According to the lawsuit, Dee falsely accused the teen of assault and downplayed the number of punches thrown at the teen in his arrest report. On Tuesday, police spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina confirmed that Dee is no longer employed with the Kansas City Police Department.
After filing an excessive force lawsuit, the teen was recently awarded $325,000 by the police department. Since the beginning of the year, the Kansas City Police Department has paid out $1.3 million for incidents involving black teenagers.
In January, the police department agreed to pay $110,000 to a teenage girl who was pepper sprayed during a protest against police brutality in 2020. In February, the Board of Police Commissioners agreed to pay $900,000 for the wrongful arrest of a 15-year-old who was incarcerated for three weeks.
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