City of Brooklyn Park to pay nearly $3M in settlement over shooting
Published 2:29 pm Saturday, August 1, 2015
BROOKLYN PARK — The city of Brooklyn Park will pay nearly $3 million in a settlement with a man who was shot multiple times by a police officer at a Valentine’s Day party in 2014.
Attorneys representing both parties said the agreement was reached Wednesday. Jason Hiveley, an attorney for Brooklyn Park, said the city and its insurer determined the $2.85 million settlement would allow them to avoid further costs associated with a “potentially large jury verdict.”
Shoua Yang was shot three times by officer Jason Chadbourne outside a restaurant and banquet hall. Yang initially was charged with second-degree felony assault after the incident, but he later was acquitted.
His attorney, Bob Bennett, said the dismissal of the criminal charge was a springboard for the civil lawsuit and settlement.
Brooklyn Park police officers involved in the incident claimed they saw three men run into a car outside of the party, and the driver put the car in reverse and sped toward Chadbourne after the officers ordered the men to stop and talk to them, according to court documents.
Yang argued that he never knew police were in the parking lot because it was dark and snowy, the lawsuit said.
At some point in the night, Chadbourne turned his squad car’s camera and his microphone off, and then later turned them back on, the documents state. Yang’s attorneys argued that Brooklyn Park police policy requires officers utilize the devices to record all interactions with the public.
Chadbourne remains on paid administrative leave pending an employment hearing.