Colorado Springs city council members approved Tuesday a $2.1 million payment to settle a federal lawsuit against three police officers who were accused of beating a Black man “beyond recognition” during a traffic stop, leaving him with significant PTSD-like symptoms.
Body camera footage released from the October 2022 stop shows officers telling Dalvin Gadson to get out of the car, after he was stopped for driving slowly and not having license plates. Gadson opens the driver’s side door, turns his body to face toward them and asks to stay seated inside.
The officers tell him he is under investigation for a DUI and needs to get out, but he objects. Then, an officer is seen reaching into the car to get him out and a struggle ensues.
The federal lawsuit filed in 2022 alleges two officers punched Gadson in the face and one of them kneed him in the forehead, causing him to fall back into the car.
Footage shows an officer punching Gadson repeatedly from the passenger side of the car. According to an arrest affidavit, the officer punched Gadson to prevent him from grabbing a 4-inch knife out of the console. The footage also shows an officer kick Gadson after he was pulled out of the car and on the ground.
The settlement represented a milestone for Gadson and the people of Colorado Springs, Gadson’s attorneys said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Gadson will continue to seek justice by working with the Department of Justice in its investigation of the incident, his attorneys said.
Gadson filed a civil rights complaint last year alleging the officers discriminated against him because of his race and used excessive force.
“The settlement should stand as a warning to all those who think their badges entitle them to brutalize the men and women they’ve sworn to protect and serve. You are not above the law and if your own department refuses to hold you accountable, we will,” the attorneys wrote.
The federal lawsuit names Colby J. Hickman, Matthew Anderson and Christopher Hummel for violating Gadson’s constitutional rights.
Prosecutors dismissed two felony assault charges against him and a misdemeanor charge for obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest, online court records show. He pleaded guilty to a traffic offense for not having license plates properly displayed on his car.
A Colorado Springs police spokesperson declined to comment on the settlement, but said all three officers were still employed by the department and are “in good standing.”
Following an internal affairs investigation, Hummel received a 10-hour suspension for making “inappropriate and unprofessional” comments toward Gadson and was removed from his position as a police training officer, according to a July 2023 internal memo. Anderson was required to take a 10-hour training on the use of excessive force for failing to follow CSPD’s use of force policies.
A spokesman for the city declined to comment on the settlement.