Mayor and Board of Estimates
approves the settlement to avoid a jury trial
Mark Reutter
The Board of Estimates today
approved a $40,000 settlement with a 36-year-old man who accused three
Baltimore police officers of using excessive force during a struggle at his
Northeast apartment in 2010.
The officers came to the
residence of Alex C. Dickson to help his former girlfriend pick up items
pursuant to a protective order she had obtained against him. Dickson allegedly
refused to allow Officer James Wilder entry to the apartment and exhibited
threatening behavior.
Wilder responded by grabbing
Dickson to place him under arrest. “A significant physical struggle took place
between Officer Wilder, which caused Officers Michael Valerio and Gary Brown to
assist,” according to the settlement sheet presented to the spending board this
morning.
Wilder was subdued by the officers,
who sprayed him with mace. He was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital where
he was treated for “significant injuries, including to his teeth, nose and
ribs.”
Dickson filed suit in Baltimore
City Circuit Court alleging false arrest, assault and battery, malicious
prosecution and violation of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Because of
conflicting accounts of the incident and “legal concerns regarding the
lawfulness of the arrest,” the city elected to settle the case rather than go
to trial.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
and the other board members approved the settlement without comment.
