Springfield has paid out $877K since January to settle 3 lawsuits claiming police misconduct [masslive.com]

MassLive.com

SPRINGFIELD — Since creating a $5 million fund to settle police misconduct lawsuits, Springfield has paid out $877,500 in three cases, including two of the three teens accusing officer Gregg A. Bigda of civil rights violations and a city man assaulted by the front desk officer at police headquarters when he complained about a parking ticket.

The settlements were disclosed city councilors on Monday during an update by the Law Department on the status of the fund, which was created in November as insurance against the backlog of civil suits filed against city police officers.

Deputy City Solicitor Lisa C. Desouza told the council that settlements had been previously reached in two cases for a total of $582,500, and the law department had just settled a third for $295,000.

The city has agreed to pay $262,500 to one of the three teens charging civil rights violations against Bigda during their interrogation following a 2016 arrest for stealing an unmarked police car. A settlement was reached in early February and the amount had been previously reported.

Desouza disclosed that the city in late January settled a federal suit filed by Jerry Bellamy against four police officers as a result of his arrest in 2017. The case was dismissed after the city agreed to pay $320,000 in late January.

The third case, which was only just settled, involves the second of the three teens in the Bigda case, and the amount agreed to is $295,000.

Desouza said the city has also entered mediation in an fourth case, but she did not disclose any details about what case it was.

The Bigda case, as it came to be known, was one of the most damaging cases to the reputation of the Springfield Police Department. Video from the interview showed Bigda, then a narcotics detective, threatening to plant narcotics evidence on one of the teens and send him to prison for drug trafficking.

The revelation caused a public relations tsunami for the department, leading to federal charges against Bidga, and a scathing review by the U.S. Department of Justice that found Springfield police narcotics detectives routinely assaulted and violated the civil rights of drug suspects, and supervisors routinely looked the other way.

Bigda was tried in federal court on civil rights charges but was acquitted in December. He remains on the police payroll but has not been assigned duties within the department.

In Bellamy’s case, the claimant walked into the Springfield police station on June 29, 2017, to complain about a parking ticket.

According to Bellamy’s complaint, he went to the front window and asked to see a supervisor when the officer manning the window, Jefferson Petrie, responded by asking “what is your f’ing problem.” The complaint says Bellamy responded to the officer with “similar language” when Petrie charged out into the lobby and assaulted him.

Surveillance video from the front lobby shows that he was at the front window for 12 seconds before Petrie charged into the lobby, grabbed Bellamy by the throat and forced him outside. There the confrontation continued with Petrie joined by officers Colin Cochrane, Ruben Borrero and Thomas Sheehan.

Bellamy was arrested for assault and battery on a police officer, but the Hampden district attorney’s office eventually dismissed the charges.

Petrie was later cleared by the Springfield Police Community Police Hearing Board.

In March 2020, Petrie admitted to a single count of assault against Bellamy. He was sentenced to attend anger management classes and other conditions. The charges were to be dismissed in a year if he kept out of trouble.

Bellamy said in his complaint that as a result of the arrest, he lost his job, he and his family were evicted from his home and he had his car repossessed.