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The towns and police officers agreed Tuesday to the recommendation by U.S. District Judge Joan Margolis to settle the excessive police force case, the News-Times said.
On May 18, 2008, a regional SWAT team, staffed by 21 officers from the five towns, raided Ronald Terebesi's home at 91 Dogwood Drive in Easton while he was watching TV. His friend, Gonzalo Guizan, 33, of Norwalk, was shot to death and Terebesi was injured when police pinned him to the floor during the raid.
Police raided the house on a tip from a stripper that drugs and weapons were in the home. Only a small amount of drugs and no weapons were found in the deadly raid.
The towns settled a lawsuit with Guizan’s family for $3.5 million in 2013. Terebesi filed a lawsuit saying that his civil rights had been violated and that he was experiencing post traumatic syndrome.
The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the police departments are not shielded by government immunity in civil rights claims. The towns appealed that ruling to U.S. Supreme Court but lost earlier this year.
Read the full story here at the News-Times website.
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