EUCLID, Ohio — The City of Euclid will pay $450,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit against Euclid Police Officer Michael Amiott, who was captured on camera assaulting a man during a traffic stop in 2017, according to the victim's attorney, Christopher McNeal.
McNeal said the city reached the settlement with Richard Hubbard and his friend, Yolimar Tirado, earlier this week.
McNeal held a news conference related to the $450,000 settlement Thursday at 5 p.m. at Black Lives Matter Cleveland. Watch a replay of the news conference:
On Aug. 12, 2017, Amiott pulled over their car during for a traffic stop.
Moments later, video from a witness's cell phone and the police cruiser's dashcam showed Amiott repeatedly punching and kicking Hubbard.
Amiott was fired over the incident, but later reinstated by an arbitrator after he appealed his termination.
Amiott is still currently facing three misdemeanor charges related to Hubbard's case.
McNeal's co-counsel, Paul Cristallo sent News 5 the following statement:
"This settlement represents some hard won justice for Richard Hubbard and Yolimar Tirado. Now, they can thankfully move towards closure. Thankfully, Richard didn't die and he wasn't permanently injured. In this respect, Euclid dodged a bullet in Richard's case. The City of Euclid and cities across this country need to take a long, hard look at the culture inside their police departments and hopefully learn from this awful episode."
In 2018, News 5's exclusive investigation found Amiott was one of the 20% of Euclid Police officers involved in more than 80% of the use of force incidents.
Hubbard was arrested and charged after the incident, but the charges against him were dropped.
News 5 reached out to the City of Euclid for a comment but has not received a response to our request.
