Baltimore
Man Awarded $500,000 Settlement For Police Misconduct
BALTIMORE (WJZ)— The office of attorney Dwight A. Petit
confirms a half-million dollar settlement involving a Baltimore City police
offer accused of kidnapping two Baltimore teens.
Detective Tyrone Francis was found guilty of misconduct in
May 2011. He and another officer are accused of kidnapping two 15-year-olds in
a police van in 2009 and dropping one off in East Baltimore and one in Howard
County.
Michael Johnson was one of those teens. He alleges he was
dropped off in Howard County without shoes.
In a settlement, Johnson was awarded $500,000
Testimony Continues in Fresno Police Brutality Trial
Tough questions. Chris Coleman tried to answer. He was in
the hot seat all day.
He's accused of using excessive force on Rolando Celdon and
falsifying reports back in 2005.
One of the main questions asked, why did he lie in his
initial police report? In the report, Coleman said he shot at Celdon with a
"less-than-lethal" shotgun because Celdon picked up a stick and
bottle.
It turns out, Celdon never did.
Coleman said he "didn't know what he was thinking"
when he wrote it, and that was just his "draft report." He said,
"At that time, I wanted to get something in to prevent from getting in
even more trouble." He claims he wrote the report a day later, and was
worried because had already been reprimanded for turning reports in late.
He deleted the false information in his final report.
Coleman also explained what happened during the incident
with Celdon. He says he shot at Celdon with a "less than lethal"
shotgun four to six times. He said Celdon refused to put his hands over his
head, even though he told him to about a dozen times.
Prosecutors were quick to fire back at that claim. They
pointed out in Coleman's previous testimony, he said he didn't remember what
caused him to shoot Celdon. Coleman also denied ever trying to hit Celdon with
a car. He said he couldn't be certain if Celdon was armed or not, and his
primary concern was to protect officer Sean Plymale, who was injured and near
Celdon.
The trial will continue Tuesday morning. The other accused
officers, Paul van Dalen, Michael Manfredi, and Sean Plymale are also expected
to take the stand.
If convicted, the officers could face up to 20 years in
prison.