A man who was left paralyzed in California after being slammed to the ground during a traffic stop was awarded a $20 million settlement, according to the Associated Press.
It's one of the largest settlements in the state's history.
Army veteran Gregory Gross from Yuba City, California, sued the police department in 2022 after officers used what they referred to as "pain compliance" techniques during a traffic stop. He had been accused of drunk driving that resulted in a slow-speed vehicle collision in 2020.
A video released by Gross' lawyer shows the chain of events following his traffic stop. He continuously cries out, "I can't feel my legs," which police did not take seriously. Officers also dismissed him when he claimed he couldn't breathe while being held face down on a lawn outside a hospital. When asked to stand, Gross can be seen unable to do so. He's transported into the hospital on a wheelchair, where he can be seen with a bloodied face from being held into the ground.
Once inside the hospital, Gross continues to tell medical staff that he can't feel his legs. Without restraining his neck or spine, someone can be heard asking, "You want to grab his arms and flop him up on the bed?"
Gross ended up needing two surgeries to fuse his spine. His separate lawsuits alleged that due to police and medical misconduct, he was left unable to walk and will require round-the-clock care for the rest of his life, AP said.
"It's about police brutality that destroyed his life, along with obtaining enough money to pay for his lifelong care," Gross' attorney Moseley Collins had said at the time the lawsuits came out, according to AP. "Greg doesn't want this to happen to anyone else."
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