The Associated Press
Baltimore (AP) -- A jury has awarded $39 million to a man whose neck was broken during his arrest by city police in 1997.
The plaintiff, 39-year-old Jeffrey Adrian Alston, is now a quadriplegic receiving around-the-clock care at an Ellicott City nursing home. Attorney Kerry D. Staton said Alston was gratified by Tuesday’s verdict.
Acting City Solicitor Donald Huskey said the city may appeal the verdict.
Alston was arrested in a traffic stop Nov. 3, 1997, in the 4800 block of Reisterstown Road. He had been stopped for speeding, and was being taken in a police van for an alcohol test when the injury occurred, according to a police account at the time.
Officers Mark Warble and Lewis Yamin told police investigators that Alston caused his own injuries. They said they placed Alston in the van after they smelled alcohol on his breath and that he stood in the van during his transport and fell, Huskey said last night.
But Alston’s lawyers alleged that Warble - driver of the van -broke Alston’s neck when he put the man in a headlock. Yamin was supervisor of the van, according to the attorneys.
In its verdict, the jury found that Warble had committed assault and battery against Alston, and that he and Yamin had violated the man’s constitutional rights, were grossly negligent in their conduct, caused his injuries and acted with malice.
A third officer who was sued, Michael Gentile, who Federico said had helped in the arrest, was found by the jury to have been negligent and acted in malice, but not to have caused the injury. He was found not liable for the damages, Federico said.
The jury awarded Alston $559,334 to cover past medical expenses, $8.5 million for future medical expenses, and $30 million in “non-economic” damages including pain and suffering, embarrassment and humiliation.
The police officers were represented by Troy Priest, a lawyer who was hired by the city. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.