Woman shot by Hamden cop gets $1.1 million settlement in civil case [New Haven Register, Conn.]

Apr. 5—HAMDEN — Stephanie Washington, who was shot and injured by a Hamden police officer in 2019, has won a million-dollar settlement in her civil lawsuit against the town, newly disclosed records show.

Under the agreement, Washington received approximately $1.1 million from the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, Hamden's insurance provider. The payment resolves Washington's claims against the town and former officer Devin Eaton, who was convicted of assault in connection with the shooting.

"I'm glad that it's been resolved," Mayor Lauren Garrett said when asked for comment on the lawsuit.

The New Haven Register obtained a copy of the settlement agreement through a Freedom of Information request. It includes a confidentiality clause barring Washington from publicly discussing the case.

Despite the payment, Eaton and Hamden have denied all liability in relation to Washington's claim, according to the settlement, which says "this settlement represents a compromise resolution of a disputed claim, made solely based on an economic settlement by CIRMA ... and does not constitute an admission of liability, violation of any law, constitutional or statutory rights, or any negligence or other wrongdoing."

Eaton had been responding to a report of an armed robbery at the Go on Gas Station on Arch Street in Hamden April 16, 2019, when he stopped the car Washington was in in New Haven. Washington, 25, was in the passenger seat of the vehicle when Eaton opened fired on the car; he later said he believed he saw Paul Witherspoon III, the driver, holding a gun as he began to exit the vehicle, but investigators never found any evidence of one, according to a state's attorney's report on the shooting.

Washington sustained injuries to her spine, sacrum and pelvis, according to her lawsuit; it also set off a string of local police accountability protests.

Washington and Witherspoon had stopped at the gas station earlier in the night, the report says. While there, an attendant called 911 to report that he saw Witherspoon attempt to rob a newspaper deliveryman at gunpoint, it says. Witherspoon later confirmed he had had a confrontation with the deliveryman but never showed a gun or implied he had one, and the attendant later told investigators he never actually saw a firearm, a search warrant affidavit for the vehicle revealed in the wake of the shooting.

Washington also sued the gas station attendant, identifying him in her lawsuit as Aziz Abdullattf, as well as T&S United LLC, the business name for Go on Gas Station. She claimed they were partly to blame for her injuries.

Both defendants denied liability in a court filing, contending that "any alleged acts by the defendant Abdulattf were fully justified to protect himself and others."

A judge has dismissed Washington's entire lawsuit as settled, according to a federal court database. However, her settlement agreement with the town does not address the claims against Abdullattf and T&S United LLC.

Asked whether those defendants reached a separate agreement with Washington, their attorney, John J. Morgan, said in an email that his firm generally does not comment on litigation.

Elliot Spector, whose firm represents Eaton, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. Inquiries also were left with Win Smith III, an attorney for Washington.

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