“I’m unfamiliar with this case. If the guy really was driving wrecklessly, why the high payout? Maybe he was drunk or high. Was the payout that high because he was a National Guard?”
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The payout was “that high” because it was an uncalled for shooting. If the family had not settled and if I was on the civil jury I would have done everything possible to have the award be MANY, MANY times the settlement amount. As usual, the killing cop’s harshest punishment was a long paid vacation (government employees refer to it as paid administrative leave). Doing a little research I saw that the cop was involved in earlier brutality lawsuits which the City settled.
But Diane DeFerrari, a bartender sitting in the front passenger seat of Polanco’s car, has contradicted the police account, telling news outlets that Polanco had his hands on the steering wheel at all times during the stop.
DeFerrari described the officers who made the traffic stop as aggressive, saying they screamed obscenities and extended the middle finger toward the car before Polanco pulled over. She said Polanco had no time to reach under the seat before being shot.
“All you had to do was pull him over, ask for license and registration and take him to jail. There was no reason for this innocent kid to be killed,” she told CBS News.
A third passenger, off-duty police officer Vanessa Rodriguez, 29, was asleep in the backseat, police said.