COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A veteran who was seen in a video being punched and kicked by Colorado Springs officers during a 2022 traffic stop reached a multimillion dollar settlement with the city, attorneys for the veteran said Tuesday.
Attorneys for Dalvin Gadson filed a federal lawsuit against multiple officers within the department, alleging that he was attacked without any kind of verbal warning as required by the department's use of force policy. The attorneys said Colorado Springs City Council voted 7-1 to approve a $2.1 million settlement related to the lawsuit.
"This 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," his attorneys said in a statement.
In December 2022, his attorneys released body camera footage showing his arrest from October of that year. Gadson, who's Black and homeless, was giving a man a ride to work before an officer pulled him over, according to his lawyers.
The video shows an officer asking Gadson to stay in the car and show his hands. The officer calls for backup.
"Man, why are you trying to get out?" asks the CSPD officer.
At this point, Gadson and the passenger remain in the car.
The officer walks up to the passenger side of the car and tells the two men they were pulled over because there are no plates on the car. He takes an ID from Gadson and the passenger.
Things escalated a short time later when Gadson refused to get out of the car.
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"Mr. Gadson refused to be detained for a DUI investigation, and subsequently when he tried to stay in the car, they decide to use closed-hand fists to beat him out of the car," said Harry Daniels, an attorney for Gadson, in 2022. "He was afraid. He felt like he didn’t do anything wrong. You stop him for a tag. Subsequently, you want him to get out of the car."
Gadson was initially charged with two counts of second-degree assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, driving under the influence, and driving without license plates. All charges were eventually dismissed.
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