Think Outside the Cage: Denver OK's 885,000 For Teen Beaten By Cop

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Denver OK's 885,000 For Teen Beaten By Cop

The Denver City Council on Monday approved an $885,000 settlement with a teenager who claimed that police beat him up.

But two council members said the settlement, which is one of the largest in the city's history, wasn't nearly enough.

Council members Judy Montero and Paul Lopez said the April incident in northwest Denver not only left a young man with severe injuries but unraveled decades of improved police community relations with the Latino community.

"This was a step backwards," Lopez said.

The council voted 12-1 in support of the financial settlement with the guardian of Juan Guillermo Vasquez, who was hospitalized with multiple injuries after a bloody confrontation with police.

Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the settlement was "simply too excessive."

After the meeting, Montero said she was responding to Faatz's comments that the settlement was too little when she said that it wasn't enough.

"I was just responding to her. I mean, how do you measure that?" Montero said.

The Denver Post