City settles for $750K with man shot by Orlando police [Orlando Sentinel]

Oct. 01--The city of Orlando will pay $750,000 to a credit-card-theft suspect who was shot by police in a crowded Target parking lot almost three years ago, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

The settlement with Rogelio "Roger" Cortes is the latest of legal payouts made by local governments in Central Florida to people who were seriously injured or killed during incidents involving alleged police misconduct.

Orlando police organized the Nov. 21, 2010, takedown of Cortes, who detectives said was driving a van filled with electronics that were purchased with stolen credit cards.

Officers claimed they fired at the van because it rammed patrol cars while Cortes was trying to escape from the parking lot off Colonial Drive. But surveillance video showed an unmarked police vehicle strike the van from behind, which pushed it into the other patrol cars. Cortes was shot several times.

"We are pleased that the city of Orlando has accepted responsibility for what was clearly a tragic case of excessive force and inappropriate conduct," Cortes' Orlando attorney, David Paul, told the Sentinel. "We see this as a positive sign that the city of Orlando Police Department is trying to head in the right direction."

The incident prompted OPD to create a policy prohibiting officers from investigating crimes that involve family members. The sergeant who investigated the case planned the operation even though it involved her husband's stolen credit card.

Though Cortes initially faced several criminal charges, those charges were ultimately dropped. Cortes sued the city of Orlando and the officers involved last year.

Court records show the settlement was reached during a mediation conference this summer, and on Sept. 5, Cortes agreed to accept the $750,000 settlement. Of that, the city received a reimbursement from its insurance company for $283,000, according to spokeswoman Cassandra Anne Lafser.

Asked if city officials or the mayor wanted to comment on the settlement, Lafser said, "The litigation was resolved through mediation." Police Chief Paul Rooney was out of the office Monday and unavailable to comment.

Tim Lynch, director of the Cato Institute's Project on Criminal Justice, said local governments and police departments settle cases to lessen the potential financial -- and public image -- damage.

"Cities and counties are frightened of getting hammered by jury verdicts that could potentially be much greater than what it could be in a settlement," Lynch said.

Attorneys weigh other factors, including the damage that could be caused if the case goes to trial and officers have to testify under oath, which can expose problems in the police department, he said.

"Those are incentives to settle the case quietly," Lynch said.

The Cortes payout comes just months after the Orange County Sheriff's Office confirmed it settled with the estate of Torey Breedlove for $450,000.

Breedlove, a 27-year-old suspected car thief, was shot at 137 times at an Orlando-area apartment complex in January 2010.

Breedlove's estate sued, and the federal judge presiding over that case likened the conduct of the 10 deputies who killed Breedlove to an "execution" rather than an attempted arrest.

Legal experts said it was no surprise that the Sheriff's Office settled in the Breedlove case given the circumstances and the judge's order. A Sheriff's Office spokesman in July said the settlement "should not be construed as an admission of wrongdoing," but a shared desire to resolve the case and move forward.

In other instances, jurors have determined the fate of excessive force such cases -- and the payout.

In August 2012, an Orlando federal jury awarded an elderly man $880,000 in damages stemming from an altercation with an Orlando police officer that resulted in his neck being broken.

Daniel Daley, who was 84 at the time of the controversial September 2010 takedown, was upset his car was about to be towed from a parking lot off North Orange Avenue. Officer Travis Lamont was dispatched to the scene.

Daley told jurors he tapped the officer's arm while asking for help in the towing dispute, but Lamont claimed Daley was belligerent and threatened to knock him out, so the officer performed an armed-bar takedown.

Orlando Commissioner Daisy Lynum said she has long been concerned with police training but has not received support from fellow leaders about retraining officers when incidents such as these arise.

But police officials say annual officer training has been expanded in the wake of these incidents to include courses taught by city attorneys. In these courses, the lawyers talk about legal issues, recent cases and advise officers on best practices.

Orlando's officers need to understand, Lynum said, "the authority they have comes from the citizens to protect us and not to kill us, and not to harm us and not intimidate us."

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