By Ben Terzi
Special to The Baltimore Watchdog
The Baltimore Board of Estimates voted Wednesday to pay $45,000 to Theresa Rouse in an excessive use-of-force lawsuit against the city Police Department back in 2016.
Chaz Ball, a lawyer who negotiated the settlement, explained the potential high cost of attorneys’ fees for federal court played a significant role in deciding the monetary amount to be paid to Rouse.
“This case is old, this case has been going on for some period of time,” Ball said. “The incident happened in 2016, and frankly, we wouldn’t get a trial until 2022, so that’s even more in terms of attorneys’ fees.”
Rouse filed a civil lawsuit claiming excessive force after a 2016 incident with police, who were arresting juveniles allegedly smoking marijuana at a BP station in West Baltimore. The experience left her with injuries from being thrown to the ground, while one of the officers placed his knee on her neck.
Rouse’s 13-year-old grandson was one of the juveniles being arrested by police who responded to a call from the gas station owner claiming the boys were smoking marijuana inside his building.
According to court documents, Rouse told officers she was a grandmother to one of the boys being arrested.
When Sgt. Bill Shiflett called the boy’s mother, she denied Rouse was his real grandmother and was only dating the boy’s grandfather.
At this time, one of the officers apprehended Rouse’s actual grandson who fled away in a nearby alley.
When Rouse returned to the scene to see her biological grandson being detained, she approached the officers to protest his arrest. Court documents show Rouse had gotten into a loud verbal exchange, where Officer Christopher Florio demanded she “get back.”
Around this time, Florio told Rouse to dispose of the lit cigarette she had in her hand. As he approached Rouse, she allegedly flicked her cigarette in Florio’s direction. That’s when Florio moved to arrest Rouse.
Defendants alleged Rouse stepped back to resist arrest, while Rouse claimed she was pushed back by police.
Cellphone footage showed Florio and Officer John Rosenblatt forcefully pushing Rouse to the ground, with Florio placing his knee on the back of her neck. While laying on her stomach, officers roughly pulled Rouse’s hands behind her back to place her in handcuffs.
After being placed on the gas station curb, Rouse fell to her side, yelling how she was in pain and requested an ambulance.
Upon her release from the hospital, Rouse was charged with second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and possession of a dangerous weapon — a lit cigarette.
None of the police involved in the incident, including Officers Anthony Ward, John Romeo, Rosenblatt and Sgts Michael Brinn and Shiflett were reprimanded, nor did they receive any disciplinary action.
Lisa Walden, chief of the Office of Legal Affairs, said the 2016 incident was a subject of an internal investigation.
“My understanding was that the officer [Florio] was exonerated,” said Walden. “And to have taken this case to trial, one of the evidentiary issues [Florio] would not have faced would have been that this officer had some sort of extensive history of similar types of complaints.”
Although the Board of Estimates agreed to grant Rouse the proposed settlement, the case could still potentially proceed in federal court because it disputes whether Florio used excessive.
“The Court therefore concludes there is a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the force Officer Florio used to subdue Rouse was excessive,” said U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III.
Considering Russell’s ruling, the city could face damages that exceeds the $45,000 approved by the Board of Estimates. The board’s decision comes amid a high-profile trial in Minneapolis where a white police officer is charged with the murder of 46-year-old George Floyd because he knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes 30 seconds after he was handcuffed, pinning him face down on the ground with the officer’s knee.
Minneapolis awarded Floyd’s family $27 million in a settlement.
3 Comments
Great article, although nothing will change until they enforce punishment for police brutality.
U have got too be kidding, for a police officer do his job . All police officers should go on strike, cause this is getting out of control. Give them what they want if not another riot , u justice System sucks for the majority , just saying if it was a white man n a black police officer did it it’s ok just sweep it under the rug . What the hell is wrong with the justification of protection for the police officer. He should go free unless Floyd family wants more money .
This the first time I’m hearing about this. Crazy that it’s taken 5 years after the incident for a settlement and it would take another year for a trial. Our system is so messed up. Thanks for the info.