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Posted by: kwflatbed

MIKE KALIL
Las Vegas Review-Journal


The Metropolitan Police Department will pay a total of $72,000 to settle lawsuits arising from separate incidents in which citizens claimed officers used excessive force against them.
The department's Fiscal Affairs Committee on Monday approved a $32,000 payment to Lisa Coatney, whose complaint stemmed from a 1999 arrest, and a $40,000 payment to Robert Garcia and Noi Lewis, who sued police after being detained during 2002's deadly biker riots in Laughlin.
The settlements, which do not require the department to admit wrongdoing, were both approved without discussion as part of the committee's consent agenda.
Coatney claimed Las Vegas police officer Glenn Dillard nearly beat her unconscious when Dillard responded to her house in November 1999 on a report of a potential domestic violence situation.
According to the lawsuit, when Dillard responded to the home, Coatney originally denied him entry, saying he needed a warrant. The complaint accused Dillard of placing Coatney under arrest for obstructing an officer and repeatedly slamming Coatney against his squad car.
Prosecutors later dropped the obstruction charge. Coatney filed a complaint with police Internal Affairs in 1999 that was not sustained.
Coatney didn't pursue the matter further until 2001 when she read a Review-Journal story about another woman who had accused Dillard of inappropriate behavior during a traffic stop.
That woman, Chanin Cuddeback, said Dillard tackled her on the hood of his police cruiser and threatened to arrest her after she slammed down the officer's pen while receiving a ticket.
Cuddeback later filed an Internal Affairs complaint against Dillard, which was supported by investigators on the basis of excessive force and discourteous behavior.
Then-Sheriff Jerry Keller fired Dillard in September 2001 under the department's "truthfulness" rule for lying to investigators during an Internal Affairs investigation.
Dillard, who police officials said now lives in South America, could not be reached for comment Monday. Attempts to reach Coatney, now a prosecutor in the Midwest, also were unsuccessful.
Garcia and Lewis sued the department in 2003, saying they were mistreated by police during the prior year's riots in which members of the Mongols and Hells Angels motorcycle clubs shot, stabbed and beat each other at Harrah's Laughlin during the annual River Run event. Three bikers died in the brawl.
According to their $2 million lawsuit, Garcia and Lewis are not members of any biker gangs but were detained with others for several hours after the riot.
They also claim officer Robert Grabowski subjected them to excessive force.
Garcia claims Grabowski beat his shoulders and back area with a baton. Lewis claims Grabowski forced her to the ground, causing her shirt to come off her shoulder and expose her breasts.
Garcia also claims police denied him medical treatment while he suffered several seizures, including one grand mal seizure.
Attorneys for the department recommended settling Coatney's case as a cheaper alternative compared to the cost of proceeding to trial. The Garcia and Lewis settlement was recommended for several reasons, including attorneys' belief that the plaintiffs could prevail at trial because Garcia and Lewis made for compelling witnesses who could win jurors empathy.

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