Two Tacoma teenagers have been awarded more than half a million dollars in federal court for a 2014 confrontation with police.
Monique Tillman and her brother were riding their bikes in the Tacoma mall parking lot when officers stopped them.
New witness video KING 5 obtained shows off-duty officer Jared Williams throwing Tillman to the ground and using his taser.
“From the kid’s point of view, they were not creating a disturbance. They felt like they were being hassled because of the color of their skin by the security officer in the first instance and then later by the police officer,” said Attorney Rick Freidman, who represented Tillman and her brother and argued their civil case.
The jury in federal court found that Williams used excessive force and violated Tillman’s constitutional rights. They also found that police unreasonably seized she and her brother at the mall.
“There was a security guard who said they were creating a disturbance by riding their bikes in the road,” Friedman said. “He said when he went to stop them and ask them where they were going they said they were going home. but they swore at them. Security asked police to help him and issue a trespassing notice that says don’t come back to the mall.”
A jury agreed and awarded them $550,000.
Officer Williams remains employed by Tacoma Police.
We asked why, and KING 5 was referred to the city. We reached out to them after hours and are waiting to hear back.
Friedman said Tacoma Police argued in court the officer wasn’t in the wrong, because he didn’t violate a department policy at the time.
“We were saying, ‘Yes everything you did was in accordance with your policy, and your policy is messed up,’” Friedman said. “I think the lesson here is we live in a remarkable country where two poor kids with no resources can go into federal court and ask for accountability and actually get it.”
