COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A federal civil rights lawsuit that was filed by a former Coldwater resident over an incident involving then Coldwater Police officer Lewis Eastmead at the Branch County Jail over two years ago was settled last week during a settlement conference.
According to www.pacermonitor.com, Magistrate Judge Ray Kent signed an order last Thursday which set a deadline of November 1, 2019 for closing documents and settlement documents to be filed.
The suit was filed in December 2017 by Tiffany McNeil over an incident the previous July which was videotaped by Sheriff’s Department cameras and picked up by news organizations all over the world.
Eastmead was seen grabbing McNeill’s hair while she was handcuffed and throwing her onto a cement floor. McNeil claims she was knocked unconscious and bloodied by the officer’s actions. A large laceration near her eye brow required 20 stitches to close.
McNeil charged excessive force and a civil rights violation in her lawsuit and was demanding damages of at least $75,000.
Eastmead left the Coldwater Police Department less than a month after the suit was filed.
Three Branch County Corrections Officers and former Branch County Prosecutor Ralph Kimble were later added as defendants but Kimble was dropped because of his immunity under state statute for all state law claims.
Branch County Commissioners followed the advice of counsel and approved the settlement of the case during their meeting on Tuesday. Commissioner Terri Norris said she doesn’t believe “our officers did anything wrong” but she added she understood the cost of litigation for the county which was why she was supporting the settlement.
Coldwater Police Officers Suleiman Sumbal, Frederick Pyles and Scott Sergent were dropped as defendants after being named when the suit was filed. According to a joint status report that was filed in May 2018, the defendants denied violating any of plaintiff’s constitutional rights and that their actions were not in violation of state law.
As usual when a suit is settled before it goes to trial, the terms have not been disclosed.
