A federal jury late Wednesday awarded more than $1.67 million to a driver who it found had been unlawfully stopped, falsely arrested and then injured by a Milwaukee police officer, reports the Milwaukee Sentinel.
Much of the stop was recorded on a squad car dash cam video, which was played repeatedly during the three-day trial, more than nine years after the incident. If upheld, it would be the latest bill to city taxpayers for police misconduct, which has cost more than $21 million since 2015, and which is the subject of more pending cases, like that of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown, who had a Taser used on him by officers over a parking violation in 2018. In this case, Jimmy Harris, 47, was driving his 1999 Chrysler Sebring on North Avenue in November 2010 when he was pulled over by Milwaukee Police Officer Frolian Santiago.
Harris said when he asked the reason; Santiago accused him of driving a stolen car. Even though Harris was the registered owner of the car, and the plates and vehicle identification number matched, the DMV listed Harris’ car as gray, and Santiago thought the car he was driving looked black. The specific color, “deep slate pearl,” looks black or gray depending on the light.
The jury found that Santiago had made an unlawful stop, search and arrest and had assaulted and battered Harris, used excessive force, and that the police ruined the Sebring. The jury did not attribute any fault to Santiago’s two codefendants, Milwaukee Police Officers Steven Stelter and Mark Kapusta, who had responded to assist Santiago and helped handcuff Harris.
“Mr. Harris and his family are elated the jury finally determined that Officer Santiago illegally stopped him for the color of his car,” said Harris’ attorney, Nate Cade. “It’s shameful the city had every opportunity to settle this and chose not to.”
The city attorney’s office had no comment about the verdicts. The city could choose to appeal or try to negotiate a lower, quicker payment. In addition to the damages awarded by the jury, the city of Milwaukee could be on the hook for Cade’s reasonable costs and fees for litigating the case, which could exceed $200,000. Among the total damages were $90,000 in punitive damages — $40,000 against Santiago, now a detective, and $50,000 against retired officer Walter McCullough, a sergeant who responded to the incident after Harris had been handcuffed, and failed to intervene or order Harris freed.
McCullough did not honor subpoenas for a deposition earlier in the case, or appear for the trial, where he was also a defendant. On the video of the arrest, Harris can be seen pulling away from Santiago when he reaches for Harris’ left arm to handcuff him, and then repeating that he was recovering from rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder just 10 days earlier. Harris repeatedly asks why he’s being stopped.
When he and Santiago move off camera, you can hear Harris screaming in pain as he’s being handcuffed. He was taken to a hospital, given medications for pain and spent the weekend in jail. When he was released on a Monday, he filed a citizen complaint with the department and later with the Fire and Police Commission. Internal affairs didn’t investigate the complaint until more than a year later, and no one ever took a statement from Harris’ fiancée, who was in the car that night.
Harris sued the City of Milwaukee and the officers in 2014. By 2016, his shoulder pain had worsened to the point where he had a different kind of surgery. It helped keep his shoulder blade in place but left him permanently disabled. Jurors heard testimony from Harris, his fiancée, two of his doctors, the defendant officers and an expert on police training and use of force.
The owner of a car can get a ticket for changing its color without updating the registration, but only if the change is discovered by police who make a stop for some other purpose. During Harris’ suit, it was revealed many officers — even former Chief Edward Flynn — thought otherwise. In his closing argument, Deputy City Attorney Jan Smokowicz said all the answers to verdict questions about whether officers violated Harris’ rights should be no.
He said the evidence showed Santiago used only reasonable force in arresting Harris, who had become argumentative and was interfering with Santiago’s investigation. Cade reminded jurors it was unlawful to stop Harris solely for the color discrepancy, and it was only years later, after the lawsuit, that Santiago claimed he’d also seen Harris weaving within his lane. Cade said Harris had every reason to be hostile after being accused of having a stolen car, then frisked, even though Harris had a valid license and no criminal record.
Harris did pull his arms away because he feared being handcuffed would hurt the surgically repaired shoulder. Ultimately, Santiago took him to the ground, and two other officers who responded to an assist call helped handcuff him. After a prosecutor declined to file obstruction charges, Santiago gave Harris a municipal ticket for the offense, which also was later dismissed.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that is spite,” Cade said. He suggested $2.4 million would compensate Harris for past and future medical bills, and his pain and suffering. Cade also asked jurors to impose punitive damages against the city and the officers, Santiago and the two who responded after his call and helped arrest Harris, Stelter and Kapusta. Harris said he will use the money awarded by the jury to seek more therapy to keep his arm as useful as he can, and delay more surgery as long as possible.
He said it was great to see the court system work how it was supposed to at trial. “As I was going to the elevator last night, it was like a spirit passed, like I suddenly went to an OK feeling I’ve never felt before.”
