March 14, 2012
BOSTON—The city of Boston has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a Methuen man who said a Boston police officer tackled him and placed him in a choke in 2009, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to work.
The settlement with Michael O’Brien came nearly three years after the March 16, 2009 scuffle that sparked the suit.
The arresting officer, David Williams, was recently fired for using excessive force.
O’Brien says Williams knocked him to the ground while he was videotaping another police officer with a cellphone during a traffic stop. O’Brien tells The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/zdbrDK) he lives with debilitating dizziness and headaches.
Williams’ lawyer says his client contends he did nothing wrong and there is no admission of liability in the settlement.
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