The city of Forth Worth, Texas, settled a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a black woman after she and her daughter wrestled to the ground during a violent arrest in 2016.
City officials agreed to pay $150,000 to Jacqueline Craig. The settlement will be presented to city council for approval in October.
“Achieving a settlement with Ms. Craig was the right decision in this case to shut down the Craig family and our community,” Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement. “As a city, we will remain committed to fostering greater communication and understanding and continuing the progress we have made in addressing Fort Worth’s needs.”
As part of the settlement, the city admits no other wrongdoing and there are no other requirements, a Fort Worth spokesperson said.
A lawyer for Craig did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Craig called the Fort Worth Police Department to report that a white neighbor had asphyxiated her 7-year-old son. NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported at the time of the incident in December 2016.
Cell phone videos showed the responding officer talking to the neighbor, who claimed Craig’s son had littered his property and refused to pick it up, the agency said.
The officer then turned to Craig and asked, “Why don’t you teach your son not to mess around?”
Craig told the officer that the neighbor could not prove that it was her son who was making a mess and said that even if the child did, the neighbor had no right to strangle him.
The officer replied, “Why not?” He then told Craig that if she kept yelling, “You piss me off and I’ll take you to jail.”
The situation escalated and when Craig’s daughter, Brea Hymond, came between the cop and her mother, the cop tackled her.
At one point in the footage, the officer could be seen pulling out his taser while grappling with Craig and Hymond.
Both women were arrested. Craig was charged with resisting arrest and for having outstanding traffic orders, police said. Hymond, then 19, was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with public service. The charges were later dropped.
The officer, William Martin, was serving a 10-day suspension for violating departmental policy.
Corky Siemaszko and The Associated Press contributed.