$250K settlement OK’d in beating case

Payment approved by Baltimore Board of Estimates to man whose arm was broken in 2016 incident with police officer

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates approved a $250,000 settlement Wednesday to a man whose arm was broken by a Baltimore Police officer later accused of mocking the man’s injuries and making reference to the killing of Freddie Gray.

The settlement, approved by a 4-0 vote with one abstention Wednesday, was reached last month after the first day of the trial took place at U.S. District Court in Baltimore, nearly seven years after Aaron Winston said he was “choke-slammed” by Baltimore Police Officer Alexandros Haziminas shortly after midnight Feb. 21, 2016.

The lawsuit alleged Haziminas injured Winston when the then-24-year-old longshoreman, who was attending a birthday party at Mosaic Nightclub in Downtown, inquired why his friend was being asked by police to leave the establishment. In a report on the incident, police alleged that Winston tried to stop officers from escorting the man out, yelled at officers and pushed one.

Haziminas used “extreme and intentional” force, which tore Winston’s arm out of his socket and broke his arm in multiple spots, Winston’s attorney J. Wyndal Gordon wrote in the complaint, adding that Winston’s complaints of “excruciating pain” were ignored until he reached the Central District Police Station hours later. Gordon declined to comment.

At a news conference after the encounter, then-Police Commissioner Kevin Davis acknowledged that an officer broke Winston’s arm but said medical aid was rendered immediately.

Winston was hospitalized and alleged Haziminas “commenced to tormenting, harassing, and intimidating [Winston] while he laid in his hospital bed,” claiming the officer called him a “gangster” and “a relative of Freddie Gray.” Freddie Gray’s death in police custody in 2015 preceded the Baltimore uprising.

Police charged Winston with misdemeanor offenses for the encounter once he was released from the hospital and was later acquitted, prompting him and Gordon to announce they would be suing Baltimore Police.

On Wednesday, Deputy Solicitor Stephen Salsbury said witnesses were prepared to offer “pretty damning testimony” in court. Salsbury also noted that the trial began within weeks of the police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, which caused national outrage.

“There was a sense the city might face more risk by turning this over to a jury,” Salsbury said.

Salsbury said Haziminas remains on the force and was “exonerated” by an internal affairs investigation. The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office examined the incident and declined to charge the officer.

Haziminas was later probed by the office again for shooting and injuring a man on The Block in 2021 and was cleared of criminal wrongdoing. Baltimore Police did not immediately return a request for his employment status.

The federal lawsuit, filed in January 2019, also listed Mosaic Nightclub as a defendant. Winston settled with the nightclub for an undisclosed amount in 2020.

Comptroller Bill Henry, one of five members of the Board of Estimates, questioned whether the city’s attorneys might consider a policy that punishes city staff when they make decisions that are more costly to the city via settlements.

“When the officer makes fun of the person for complaining about being in pain, that’s a conscious decision that ended up costing us tens of thousands of extra dollars,” Henry said.

Salsbury called Henry’s suggestion a good idea.

“It’s something we’ve started to think about,” he said.

Council President Nick Mosby abstained from the board’s vote.