FLINT TWP., MI – Flint Township trustees will discuss paying $1.39 million to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of a man shot and killed by a township officer in 2014.
Dominique Lewis was shot and killed on July 16, 2014, during a traffic stop on Flushing Road near Eldorado Street in Flint Township.
The family of Lewis filed the lawsuit in April 2015 in Detroit U.S. District Court after Lewis’ death. Flint Township Police Department and township police Officer Matthew Needham, who fired the fatal shots, are named as defendants in the case.
There will be a special meeting on Monday, Nov. 20, according to the township’s attorney G. Gus Morris. The meeting will go into closed session to discuss the potential settlement, he said.
The $1.39 million settlement was approved by Lewis’ family, according to federal court documents filed Nov. 15. A hearing to approve the settlement is set for Nov. 30, Morris said.
Morris said Flint Township’s insurance coverage will pay for the attorney costs and a settlement should the trustees approve one.
“The people who insure police officers are very reluctant to try cases that involve the police because of the anti-police sentiment,” Morris said. “We feel still despite the settlement that the video establishes that the officer did not use excessive force in the circumstances that he was faced with.”
Lewis was killed after Needham arrived as a backup officer to assist a Flint Township officer who made a traffic stop on Flushing Road near Eldorado Street.
Dashcam video and police reports obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal through the Freedom of Information Act show a Flint Township officer initiated a traffic stop of a white Chevrolet Impala after the officer claimed the vehicle was clocked traveling 13 miles per hour over the speed limit.
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