GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) - A former Otsego resident has reached a $300,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit filed against Allegan County over brutal head injuries he said were inflicted by jail staff two years ago.
Aaron Henderson, 45, who now lives in Florida, says he was forcibly undressed and beaten, leaving him with several broken bones in his face.
The suit, filed last April in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, claimed Henderdon's face was slammed into a wall and he was kneed twice in the head in February, 2014.
Attorneys for Henderson and Allegan County reached the settlement this week.
Allegan County Administrator Robert Sarro said the proposed accord still needs to be approved by the Board of Commissioners.
“The only thing I can say is the Board met with its counsel and will proceed to a settlement,’’ Sarro said Friday. “Sometime within the next two Board meetings, I will report it was finalized.’’
Both sides have until the end of February to file final paperwork in federal court.
Henderson's attorney provided video showing a confrontation and graphic photos of injuries he says were inflicted by a corrections officer. One eye is swollen shut and jagged stitching runs from Henderson's forehead to chin.
The incident was investigated by the Berrien County Sheriff's Department with a recommendation from Detective Lt. Greg Sanders that jail officer Jacob Kapanui be charged with aggravated assault.
But the Allegan County prosecutor's office declined to press charges.
The letter explained that based upon the video and reports, Kapanui and Prosecutor Frederick Anderson "agree that a charge is not justified and would not be provable beyond a reasonable doubt, primarily due to lack of evidence of the first and second elements: that Mr. Kapanui intended to injure Mr. Henderson or make him fear an immediate battery.''
The Allegan County Sheriff's Department said Kapanui was suspended for one day without pay; he’s still employed by the county.
Police arrested Henderson the night of Feb. 19, 2014 for disorderly conduct, which the suit claimed was due to issues with his medication.
"Mr. Henderson was having trouble with prescribed medication and other supplements and began behaving somewhat erratically,'' the lawsuit alleged. He was taken to Allegan General Hospital where he exhibited serious agitation and anxiety.
Henderson wanted a family member present "to make sure that everything was being done appropriately,'' the lawsuit said. "With no family member present, Mr. Henderson left the hospital.''
Shortly after he left, Henderson was arrested for disorderly conduct and taken to the Allegan County Jail, where he was "transferred peacefully'' and was compliant with requests. The trouble began during the booking process, when jail staff accused Henderson of not responding "sufficiently quickly to their requests.''
He was placed in segregation and forcibly stripped of his clothes, at which time Henderson was assaulted, the suit claimed. He was left bleeding in the cell and his eye swelled shut. About seven hours later, Henderson was observed writing in blood on the cell wall, according to the lawsuit.
At 4 p.m., more than 12 hours after his eye bones were fractured, Henderson was taken to the hospital, the suit charged.
Henderson "feared for his life, feared he was going to die in that jail and hoped to leave traces of his own DNA so that he could be tracked,'' according to the lawsuit. "He had no way of knowing why he was being left to suffer in the prison (sic).''