Hamden Settles case: White Cop Repeatedly Punched Handcuffed Black Man in his Eye after Interrogation at Bus Stop. Cop said, "You people should be used to walking without shoes, get out of the vehicle!"

From [HERE] A Black man who sued Hamden and several white police officers for $2.5 million, after he was beaten severely and subjected to a racial insult during his arrest in 2010 settled for $60,000.

Anthony Randolph, who is black, filed the civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in July against Hamden, police Officers Timothy Brown (racist suspect in photo) and Jennifer Gaynor, Sgt. Michael Sigmon and Capt. Ronald Smith.

The lawsuit was from an incident Aug. 24, 2010. Randolph was standing on Mix Avenue, waiting to take the late night bus after working at a nearby restaurant, according to the lawsuit.

It alleges a police cruiser approached him, with two white officers instructing him not to move and interrogating him about his whereabouts in the preceding hours. When Randolph said he had been working and was now headed home, Brown "physically grabbed the plaintiff by his arm, pushed him onto the hood of the cruiser and handcuffed both arms behind the plaintiff's back," the lawsuit states.

Police searched Randolph's body, removed his sneakers, put him in the cruiser and drove to the police department, according to the lawsuit. It claims Randolph was ordered to step out of the cruiser, and Randolph asked for his sneakers back because the pavement was wet due to prior rain.

It claims Brown said, "You people should be used to walking without shoes, get out of the vehicle!" and that the comment prompted laughter from Sigmon and Gaynor.

"The plaintiff was embarrassed and offended by the officers' comment and conduct," the lawsuit states.

Brown then forcibly pulled Randolph out of the cruiser, causing his handcuffs to tighten and hurt him. The lawsuit says Randolph "spat at" Brown "out of a feeling of disgust, humiliation and frustration caused by the comments and ridicule of Officer Brown and the other officers."

The lawsuit claims Brown then repeatedly punched Randolph in the eye, while Randolph was handcuffed, in the presence of Sigmon and Gaynor. Randolph fell facedown on the pavement from the force of the punches, and began bleeding profusely, according to the lawsuit.

Randolph was brought into headquarters and booked, and afterward, police called for an ambulance, and he was treated at Yale-New Haven Hospital, the lawsuit says.

It claims Randolph suffered multiple fractures to bones in his nose, eye socket and skull, muscle damage in his eye orbit, a deep wound above his right eye, bruises, abrasions, numbness and double vision. Randolph has to undergo surgery, and suffers permanent damage to an eye muscle and vision problems, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit claims Brown subjected Randolph to excessive force, in violation of his constitutional rights. It claims Gaynor, Sigmon and Smith were negligent for failing to intervene and protect him. Smith is the head of the patrol division.

"The defendants' conduct was in whole or in part motivated by racial and personal animus toward the plaintiff," the lawsuit states.

Randolph pleaded guilty to assault on a public safety officer, criminal trespass and possession of marijuana, and was sentenced to six months in prison, court records show.

After the incident happened, attorney James Williams of North Haven, who represents the town and police officers, said, "The police officers of the town of Hamden conducted themselves professionally in all their interactions with Mr. Randolph. His claims were thoroughly investigated by the department, and could not be substantiated."

Attorney Elio Morgan of Bridgeport, who represented Randolph, said his client was handcuffed when police “punched the hell out of him.”

“There is something troubling to me about the Hamden police and their conduct, and why the federal government isn’t investigating, I don’t know,” Morgan said. “Mr. Randolph agreed to settle the matter after serious consideration of all the factors. It is a compromise rather than go to trial. He had serious injuries and will have long-term effects. He still has double vision.”