Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Creek, victim’s family settle
Unarmed man died after police used Taser on him 10 times
The city of Coconut Creek and the family of a man who died after being shocked with police Tasers have reached an undisclosed settlement, records show.
The case of Calvon “Andre” Reid, who was unarmed and asking for medical help the night he was stunned 10 times by three police officers, was scheduled to go to trial in federal court in December.
Police Chief Butch Arenal said the settlement was dictated by the insurance company because it would be cheaper than going to trial. “There is no admission of wrongdoing in this settlement,” he said.
Neither side revealed the amount of the settlement, saying it won’t be finalized until next week.
But for Reid’s parents, it’s a way around state law that requires the Legislature to approve jury awards greater than $200,000.
The family’s lawyer, Jack Scarola, would only say “we are very pleased with the outcome of this case. This was a case of a death that never should have happened.”
The sovereign immunity law that protects government, he said, is a “difficult, political process having little to do with the [ justness] of the cause. It’s a process that can take many years.”
Scarola and Reid’s mother Mamie said the money would be set aside for Calvon Reid’s two sons, one of whom graduates from high school next week. It will “help to do honor to the memory of their father,” Scarola said.
“I know what the policemen did was wrong,” said Mamie Reid. “We all know that. I try to assure Andre’s children that he will get justice. God will not allow his death to go unpunished.”
On the night of his death, Reid had asked a Wynmoor Village resident for a ride to the hospital; the man called an ambulance instead.
Paramedics said he was so agitated they called police.
Coconut Creek police arrived at the gated Wynmoor Village about 1 a.m. Feb. 22, 2015.
Because Reid had blood on him, they didn’t know if he had committed a crime, and didn’t want to leave based on his condition and appearance, officers told investigators.
Three officers fired the stun guns over the span of 10 minutes, with the first Taser deployed at 1:18 a.m., and the second one within a minute, records show.
But Reid fought back and a second officer fired his Taser, hitting Reid in the armpit near his rib cage, and then pulled the trigger again 14 seconds later, according to the records.
Reid died two days later. The Broward County Medical Examiner ruled Reid’s death was the result of “complications of an electro-muscular disruptive device,” or police’s use of a stun gun on him.
A grand jury decided not to criminally charge the officers after testing showed the drug flakka in his system. Still, the agency suffered fallout after the incident — the police chief was forced to retire.
Reid’s family filed a lawsuit in September 2015 against Coconut Creek, the three officers who fired Tasers and a fourth officer on site, alleging wrongful death and deprivation of Reid’s civil rights.
They argue Reid was unarmed, had committed no crime, and that police officers Thomas Eisenring, Daniel Rush and David Freeman acted aggressively because Reid was black and Wynmoor is a primarily white community.
The lawsuit also faulted the agency for officers deploying Tasers when their certifications to use them had expired — and then trying to catch up on the paperwork after the fact. The incident, the suit alleged, “reflects a police department run amok.”
The insurance company’s cost analysis showed the settlement would cost less than defending the case, Police Chief Arenal said on Thursday afternoon.
“There are times the circumstances of the case aren’t the issue,” he said.
Mamie Reid said the resolution of the case doesn’t truly resolve what matters — her ache for her only son.
“We’ve been on this road for two years,” she said. “We’re just so tired and so drained out. It’s still rough on us every day. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t cry every day but I think about him every day. I miss him so much. But we have to try to go on. After fighting for so long you get tired.”