Spa City excessive force case lawsuit resolution nears

Man died after being injured during 2013 police chase

The civil suit brought by the family of Darryl Mount Jr., who died after suffering injuries during a 2013 police chase in downtown Saratoga Springs, will likely be resolved within the coming months.

John Aspland, attorney for the city, said he and plaintiff’s attorney Brian Breedlove were in court last week to discuss potential trial dates in Saratoga County Supreme Court with Judge Thomas Buchanan. Aspland said Buchanan will either respond to a defense motion and dismiss the case in the coming weeks, or schedule a jury trial in March.

At issue is whether Saratoga Springs police used excessive force on Mount, who police say they found unconscious in an alley after a brief pursuit. The police claim Mount’s injuries were sustained when he fell from a 19-foot-tall scaffold.

His mother, Patty Jackson, filed suit alleging the police beat her son into a coma; his injuries, her suit claims, were not consistent with a fall.

“In order for there to be excessive force, force must be used,” Aspland said. “Not one witness has testified that force was used or that they witnessed any force used against Darryl Mount.” He said the city would not settle the case.

Breedlove could not be reached Monday for comment.

The incident between Mount, who was biracial, and the police took place at around 3 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2013, after police said they saw him slam his girlfriend’s head into a wall. Police said when they caught up with Mount, he was unresponsive near the bottom of the scaffold. He never regained consciousness and died in May 2014 from what a forensic pathologist hired by Mount’s family described as “trauma sustained by a direct assault.” Most of Mount’s injuries, Jackson said, were to one side of his face.

Mount’s mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city in Saratoga County Supreme Court.

The case received renewed attention last year after the Times Union printed excerpts from the Saratoga Springs Police Chief Gregory Veitch’s deposition in the case. In it, Veitch admitted misleading a reporter when he claimed the department had mounted an internal investigation into Mount’s injuries; Veitch retired last May.

Mount’s mother believes Veitch’s retirement is a result of the controversy. Jackson also said she remains tormented by her son’s injuries and eventual death.

“It’s still very difficult not to be bitter,” she said. “My life has completely changed. I’m not the person I was before. ... My son struggled, he suffered. I still see his face; I still smell his scent. It’s not OK.”