KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department has agreed to a $110,000 settlement with a then-15-year-old girl that was pepper sprayed during protests in May 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The teen and her father, Tarence Maddox, filed a civil suit against KCPD in August 2020 for damages suffered when police used pepper spray on a crowd gathered at Mill Creek Park in Kansas City, Missouri protesting police brutality.
In the original petition, Maddox’s attorneys claimed the officers' action demonstrated “use of force without just cause” — which, the suit claims, constitutes assault, battery and false imprisonment — in a Petition for Damages filed Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court.
The incident was caught on cell phone video, which now has amassed 8.6 million views.
A Kansas City, Missouri, Police spokesperson declined comment beyond acknowledging the settlement. A Jackson County judge approved terms of the settlement during a hearing Tuesday morning.
In March 2021, a Jackson County grand jury indicted KCPD Officer Nicholas M. McQuillen with fourth-degree assault in connection to the incident. Court records indicate a pre-trial conference is set in the case for April 1, 2022, with a jury trial scheduled 10 days later on April 11.
