Sacramento pays settlement to Black man tackled by officer for leaving his car running
The city of Sacramento has paid a $15,000 settlement to a Black man who was tackled by a white police officer in 2018 for leaving his car running while he went into a convenience store.
On May 4, 2018, at about 9:30 a.m., Craig Williams left his car running while he shopped in a 7-Eleven convenience store in South Land Park. Body camera footage shows Officer Corey Johnson ask Williams for his identification. When Williams asks why, Johnson tells him, “You have your car running. It’s a misdemeanor to leave your car running. Plus you had your stereo loud to where it could be heard.”
Williams does not give his identification and starts recording the officer on his cellphone, the body camera footage showed. The officer can be heard telling Williams to put his phone down.
“I’m gonna throw you on the ground here in a second,” the officer is heard saying.
Surveillance video shows Johnson slammed Williams against the wall of the store, then forced him onto the pavement and arrested him.
Williams can be heard complaining that his arm hurts, saying, “this is harassment” and “I give up.”
He was booked into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of resisting arrest and leaving the ignition key in an unattended vehicle before being released on his own recognizance.
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert did not file criminal charges against Johnson, at the request of the NAACP. The incident occurred just five weeks after Sacramento police shot and killed Stephon Clark, an unarmed Black man, in his grandmother’s backyard after they mistook his cellphone for a gun.
Last year, Williams sued the city and officer in federal court, alleging the fact that he was African American “was a substantial factor” that led Johnson to “assault, batter and arrest him.”
The settlement agreement, obtained by The Sacramento Bee in a California Public Records Act request, was signed by Johnson in February.
Johnson is still an active city employee, city spokesman Tim Swanson said.
“In light of all the facts, it was appropriate for the city to work with Mr. Williams and his attorney to come to a fair and reasonable resolution of this matter,” Swanson said in a statement.
State and city laws prohibit leaving unattended vehicles running. Sacramento residents who violate the laws typically face a $47.50 fine.
The police department declined to say whether Johnson had been disciplined for the incident.
“Our Internal Affairs Division did a thorough investigation into this incident,” the agency wrote in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “The findings of that investigation are part of the involved officer’s Personnel file.”
City of Sacramento settlements paid to people who claim they were victims of police brutality have come under increased scrutiny following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
Flojaune Cofer, chairwoman of the Measure U Citizens Advisory Committee, has criticized city leaders for approving an all-time-high $157 million police budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. That figure does not include the settlements, which she calls “bad-behavior payments.”
The city last year agreed to pay a $2.4 million settlement to Clark’s family members and $5.2 million to a man who officers used a Taser on so many times his family members said he was left with the mental capacity of a toddler. Earlier this year, the city agreed to pay a $500,000 settlement to the 84 people the police arrested last year during a peaceful protest in East Sacramento.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 2:44 PM.
