Vallejo to pay $750,000 to finish lawsuit over handyman crushed bloody, choked by police

A Vallejo Police sergeant goes through paperwork in his patrol car on May 7, 2008 in Vallejo. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A repairman who was left covered in blood after being beaten and choked by Vallejo police will receive $750,000 from the city, it was announced Friday.

The city of San Francisco Bay Area agreed Thursday to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by Carl Edwards over the 2017 incident, which was recorded by a witness and a police officer's body camera.

The lawsuit named the city, three police officers and a former officer.

An email seeking comment from the city after business hours Friday was not immediately returned.

Edwards was repairing his fence on July 30, 2017, when he was grabbed and tackled by officers, repeatedly punched in the head, hit in the knee and twice placed in a now-banned neck position that caused him to briefly pass out, they say said in a statement from Edward's attorney, Michael Haddad.

Edwards suffered a broken nose and a shoulder injury.

“I couldn't believe it when I was suddenly suffocated,” Edwards, 53, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “When I heard more sirens going off, I thought, 'Thank God these guys are going to tell these guys to back off.' And they just jumped in.”

A neighbor had called the police because a man was using a slingshot to shoot stones at her two boys. But arriving police learned that Edwards was not the man and that his clothing and description did not match those of the suspect, his attorney's statement said.

Edwards was charged with resisting arrest and other crimes. But after 14 months, the charges were dismissed by the Solano County district attorney for lack of evidence, the Chronicle said.

Edwards told the newspaper that he planned to leave town soon.

“I'm moving. I have to get out of here,” he said. “I'm gone.”

Last month, the Vallejo City Council announced a public safety emergency declaration, allowing staff to bypass normal channels to enforce police reforms. A more comprehensive reform proposal was also adopted.

The city of 120,000 residents is facing a “crisis of legitimacy and trust” that requires emergency measures, city spokeswoman Christina Lee said before the meeting.

Police are facing increasing criticism and financial liability over shootings and officer misconduct. Two dozen federal civil rights cases and more than a dozen damages suits are pending, which could cost the city $50 million as well as higher insurance premiums, Lee said.

In September, Vallejo agreed to pay $5.7 million to the family of a man who was shot by a police officer after being stopped for a minor traffic violation. In June, 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa was shot and killed by an officer who thought he had a gun when he didn't.

Earlier this year, the police chief announced he was launching an independent investigation after two people in the department said officers bent their badges to mark line-of-duty killings.