BETHEL -- The city of Bethel has paid $175,000 to settle a police brutality complaint arising from the rough arrest of a drunken man in July 2014 that was captured by a security camera at the Alaska Commercial Co. store, an attorney for the city said Friday.
The check for the benefit of Wassillie Gregory was turned over this week, said Bill Ingaldson, an Anchorage lawyer hired to defend the city. The money came from an insurance pool of small governmental entities, he said.
"Obviously the city paid a significant amount of money because they did not approve of what happened," Ingaldson said. "They are trying to make things right."
Gregory was drunk and walking across the store parking lot last July 12 when Andrew Reid, then a Bethel police officer, approached him, according to a lawsuit filed May 8 in Bethel Superior Court. The suit reveals new details about what happened, including the extent of Gregory's injuries and Reid's use of pepper spray. Reid has been fired from the police force.
The suit asserted that Gregory was assaulted by Reid when the officer, "without warning or justification, physically attacked him and discharged pepper spray into his face."
The video of the encounter shows Reid repeatedly slamming Gregory to the ground.
Gregory eventually was flown to Anchorage for treatment at Alaska Native Medical Center, the suit said. His shoulder joint and rib were fractured, according to the complaint, requiring surgery.