Jan 20, 2022

Potential settlement in lawsuit against Kansas City police

Posted Jan 20, 2022 10:00 AM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police on Tuesday agreed to pay $110,000 to settle a lawsuit that was filed by a teenage girl who was hit in the eyes with pepper spray during a demonstration in 2020.

The lawsuit accused three officers of assault and two of them with battery against a 15-year-old girl and her father, Tarence Maddox, during a demonstration on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza.

The settlement must still be approved by a circuit court judge, The Kansas City Star reported.

A video of the confrontation showed Maddox yelling at the police during the protest. Six officers then approach and spray him and his daughter with pepper spray.

Tarence Maddox was pulled into the street and taken into custody. One of the officers was shown pulling the teenager toward him and spraying her in the eyes from about 4 inches away, according to the lawsuit.

That officer, Nicholas McQuillen, was later indicted by a Jackson County grand jury with fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor. He is scheduled to go to trial April 11.

Maddox dismissed his lawsuit against the police department in October.

Police spokeswoman Leslie Foreman said the department could not comment because of an ongoing investigation.