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An emergency ordinance is set to go before Portland City Council on Wednesday to settle a pending federal civil rights lawsuit against Portland police.

(The Oregonian/File)

The city is poised to pay out $110,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a Portland man who accused Portland police of battery, assault and false imprisonment in a 2010 encounter at an Old Town nightclub.

The negotiated settlement goes before the City Council on Wednesday.

"The City Attorney's Office and Risk Management concur that this is a reasonable settlement in light of the potential exposure for a significantly larger verdict if the case went to trial,'' wrote Bryant Enge, the city's director of Internal Business Services in a memo to the mayor Friday.

Daniel Collins accused four officers of violently taking him to the ground in the foyer of the Barracuda nightclub on Dec. 24, 2010, repeatedly punching him in the face, kneeing him in the back and stunning him with a Taser gun, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court on June 22, 2012 against Officers Darrell Shaw, Matthew Delenikos, Gregory Burn and David Abrahamson.

"The violent beating and electric shocks delivered by the individual defendants caused plaintiff Collins to pass out," the lawsuit said.



Collins was taken to OHSU Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. He was cited for interfering with a peace officer and resisting arrest. The Multnomah County District Attorney's office did not pursue the charges against Collins.

Collins was not involved in a physical altercation at the club, was unarmed and committed no crimes, the suit said.

According to the city, police had responded to the club on a report of two fights. Collins said he was trying to leave the club when he was taken to the ground by the officers.

"He testified in deposition that he was then pinned against a metal post with his arm under him, and that he was therefore unable to comply with officers' directions,'' according to the city's memo. "Although there were factual disputes about exactly what happened inside the nightclub due to the chaotic scene there, it is undisputed that Mr. Collins was Tasered multiple times, and was struck by the officers as they attempted to arrest him and remove him from the building. He was rendered unconscious.''

Collins is the grandson of Pastor Mary Overstreet of Portland's Powerhouse Church of God in Christ. Collins was 21 at the time of the 2010 incident, home for winter break from his studies at a community college in Arizona.



--Maxine Bernstein



