KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City man has reached a $500,000 settlement with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department after his attorney argued an officer used excessive force in slamming the man's head against the ground.
The incident was caught on camera, a fact the man's attorney credits as playing a pivotal role in reaching the settlement.
On Aug. 8, 2022, KCPD officers were called to a gas station at the corner of E. 55th St. and Prospect Avenue to make contact with a man potentially connected to a stolen automobile.
A confrontation ensued, and police shot and killed the suspect, later identified as Zach Garrard.
Surveillance video from that gas station proved vital in the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office determining the shooting was justified, as it showed the man nearly hitting a police officer with his vehicle.
During the confrontation, others nearby, including Mack Nelson, who was inside the gas station at the time of the shooting, were held by police for questioning.
After he was allowed to leave the gas station, Nelson began recording the scene live on Facebook. That's where the two versions of what happened next differ.
According to the police report, Nelson was repeatedly asked to move behind the crime scene tape, but refused to comply.
The report states he was "notified he was under arrest," and as an officer referred to as "PO Frazier began to handcuff him." Nelson resisted by "jerking his arms away and attempting to twist his body" resulting in him "falling to the ground."
Nelson's attorney, John Picerno, vehemently disagrees.
"Mack walks over there and kept videotaping. The police story is that they told him numerous times to leave. Our belief is that Mack complied with the request to leave. He was in the process of leaving when the decision was made to arrest him, and on the video you can actually clearly see that he is walking away. He has his back to the crime scene, and he has his back to the storefront. And he’s heading around the side of the building, when an officer grabs him from behind and spins him around in an attempt to make the arrest."
Picerno says Steve Young, a co-founder of the group KC LEAP (Law Enforcement Accountability Project) was there that night.
Like many police involved shootings, Young heard the news from local media outlets, and showed up to record how the scene was being processed.
From the sidewalk, he watched the scene unfold, capturing the whole thing on cell phone video.
"It was over in a matter of seconds. And the officer grabbed Mack from behind, spun him around, restrained his arms behind his back, and then face-planted him, slammed him, face-planted him first face first into the ground, while his hands were behind his back, so he had no way to break his fall," Young alleges.
Nelson was eventually taken to a local hospital by ambulance. His attorney says he suffered multiple injuries, leading to PTSD that lingers to this day.
"He sustained numerous cuts, lacerations to his head, to his top of his shoulder, to his arm, and his face was split open pretty well. All the blood leaded out. He had to get I believe 11 stitches, some on the exterior of a space, and some on the inside to close up the wounds," Picerno said.
Picerno filed a lawsuit on Nelson's behalf, alleging excessive force, and claiming officers lied on the police report. He says rather than take the case to trial, both sides reached a settlement of $500,000.
But, it's not a matter of case closed for Nelson just yet. That's because he was charged with three misdemeanors in connection with what happened that night, including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and trespassing, charges that landed him in jail till he entered a guilty plea.
"When he pleaded guilty, he had been in custody and as too often happens in America, people plead guilty just to get out of jail, whether or not they’re guilty. For the last 30 years, I cannot tell you the dozens of times that clients over in jail or sitting in my office have told me this happened, 'This officer assaulted me; This officer lied to me or lied in a police report' and so on," Picerno says.
Picerno adds Nelson didn't know the video existed when he pleaded guilty. That discovery didn't come till much later. But, the attorney said it made all the difference in this case, adding he's grateful for the added level of accountability the group KC LEAP provides.
"It’s fantastic, it really is. I don’t care really what profession it is, somebody has to police them, right? Somebody has to police the police," Picerno said. "It’s a legitimate cause that they’re doing, and they’re doing great work."
On Monday, KC LEAP released a statement on the settlement.
"We are glad that this settlement will be able to provide Mack some closure and we ask that everyone please respect his privacy and his wish to move forward," the statement reads. "When no one believed Mach, KCLEAP was able to guide him through the bureaucratic red tape by refeerring him to attorney John Picerno and other services."
Meanwhile, Picerno is trying to get Nelson's convictions overturned. As for the officers involved, both PO Frazier and the officer who wrote the report are both still actively employed according to KCPD.
The police department concluded its own internal investigation, and shared those findings with the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, who's now investigating.
"We’re hoping that the prosecutor's office does charge the officers, you know, potentially they could be charged. The one officer could be charged with assault, and the other two officers that were involved in the writing of the police report could be charged with a class a misdemeanor of falsifying a police report. There’s no real gray area there. I mean, it happened. We can watch the video, we know that Mack did not fall. They put in the police report that he did fall. So, we know that’s false information. As far as the assault goes, I think you know, I’m confident that they are going to have an expert that says the use of force was reasonable. We certainly have an expert that would say that it’s not. Whether or not that rises to the level of criminal intent or not would potentially be up to a Jackson County jury, if the officer is charged. So we’re all kind of waiting for the Jackson County Prosecutor to make that decision," Picerno said.
In a statement, a KCPD spokesperson said the department was "not able to make a comment any details of that case because there is an ongoing review of the incident by the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office at this time, so it's considered an ongoing investigation."
The spokesperson said money to pay settlements in lawsuits comes out of the police department budget.
