Articles Man Shot at by Hamden Police Officer to Receive $75,000 Settlement
HAMDEN — The town has released its $75,000 settlement agreement with an unarmed man who was shot at by a police officer last year.
The town released the document only after the New Haven Register filed a Freedom of Information request.
Paul Witherspoon III will receive $75,000 as a result of the Apr. 16, 2019, incident during which Hamden Officer Devin Eaton, who had been investigating a report of an alleged armed robbery, fired 13 shots toward Witherspoon’s vehicle, which was stopped on Argyle Street in New Haven.
While Witherspoon was not shot, his passenger, Stephanie Washington, was, sustaining injuries that included a fractured pelvis and spine, the state’s attorney’s report about the case says.
Eaton faces pending first-degree assault and reckless endangerment charges in connection with the incident. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Washington sued Hamden and other involved entities in August. The case remains pending, according to the federal judicial website Pacer.
Witherspoon did not file a lawsuit. Instead, “we put the town on notice of a claim and we were able to resolve it,” his attorney, Michael Dolan, said.
Dolan declined to comment further due to a non-disclosure agreement included in the conditions of the settlement, which Hamden’s Legislative Council approved at a Nov. 18 special meeting.
The town did not release settlement details at the time, according to a New Haven Independent report.
The $75,000 will be paid through the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, an insurance company for municipalities, “on behalf of the town of Hamden and Devin Eaton,” according to the agreement, which notes the payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing.
Of the 11 Legislative Council members present at the special council meeting, eight voted to approve the settlement. Justin Farmer and Dominique Baez abstained, while Kristin Dolan recused herself.
Witherspoon currently is incarcerated due to pending criminal charges unrelated to the officer-involved shooting, records show.
The charges Witherspoon faces include firearm possession and risk of injury to a child, according to the state’s judicial website, which indicates Witherspoon’s bond is set at $125,000.
While settlement agreements with municipalities are public information, Dan Barrett, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, said municipalities sometimes engage in non-disclosure agreements anyway.
Barrett said the practice makes it harder for the public to get information about employees.
“Municipalities can’t keep a settlement confidential, and yet they try anyway,” he said. “What we get is this continued silo-ing of the scope of the police misconduct in Connecticut.”
Hamden police accountability activist Rhonda Caldwell said to her the town’s handling of information about the Witherspoon settlement — with the confidentiality agreement — speaks to transparency issues in town.
“I don’t know why there was a problem with making that public,” she said.
Mayor Curt Leng declined comment Wednesday.
Caldwell started the group Hamden Action Now, which has evolved into an organization that facilitates communication between residents and government, to organize protests in the wake of Washington being shot.
While former police Chief John Cappiello last year recommended the Board of Police Commissioners terminate Eaton, an injunction granted in late 2019 prevented the board from proceeding with a hearing and possible firing.
Hamden appealed the injunction in June.
Eaton’s attorney, Elliot Spector, who could not be reached Wednesday, has disputed the liability claims in Washington’s lawsuit and told the Register that Eaton believed he saw a gun in Witherspoon’s hand when he opened fire.
The state’s investigation did not find evidence of a firearm in Witherspoon’s vehicle.
The state also recommend against charging a second officer involved, Terrance Pollock of the Yale Police Department, who fired three shots at the vehicle as he approached from the opposite direction from Eaton, according to the state’s attorney’s report.
As gunfire came in his direction, Pollock told investigators, he believed the vehicle occupants were firing at him, the report says.