By Robert Zullo / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh City Council this
morning approved a $52,500 payment to settle a lawsuit filed by a teacher who
was thrown in jail by a city police officer as he was leaving a community
meeting in Homewood on charges that were dropped.
The settlement includes several
changes to police policy and procedures, according to an attorney for the
American Civil Liberties Union who represented Dennis Henderson, 39. The ACLU
called the case a racially motivated false arrest and a clear-cut case of
police misconduct.
Mr. Henderson, a teacher at the
Manchester Academic Charter School, told the Citizens Police Review Board
earlier this year that he was leaving a June 2013 meeting at the Community
Empowerment Association in Homewood and went to his car to get a business card
to give to a journalist. He was arrested after a confrontation that started
when Officer Jonathan Gromek sped by and Mr. Henderson exclaimed
"Wow."
The Citizens Police Review
Board recommended in March that the city fire Officer Gromek. The police
department recommended a written reprimand in November 2013, after the Office
of Municipal Investigations found he violated departmental policy. He remains a
city officer and is assigned to Zone 3, which includes most of South Side.
