The woman involved in a struggle with two Tuscaloosa police officers two months ago will receive a $16,500 payout from the city.

Tuscaloosa City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to pay Jhasmynn Sheppard a settlement from the city's Law Enforcement Liability Reserve Fund.

Sheppard filed a claim with the city after video of the April 19 arrest spread like wildfire across social media. The video showed the TPD officers struggling to put Sheppard in handcuffs, with one striking her with a collapsible police baton.

Many people criticized the officers for the use of force and comments made during the arrest, while others defended them for doing what was necessary to take the hit-and-run suspect into custody.

Body camera footage released the following week depicted the officers using language and making statements that Chief Steve Anderson said made him “angry” and “disgusted.”

Attorneys refused to provide further details of the settlement.

"It's a settlement," said City Attorney Glenda Webb.

Tuscaloosa attorney Julie Love, representing Sheppard, said she couldn't discuss the settlement, "only that one has been reached."

Sheppard couldn't be reached Tuesday night.

City officials have not responded to a public records request by The Tuscaloosa News sent April 29, asking for the officer's personnel files and employment status. Webb said Tuesday she couldn't address their employment status because the matter is still pending.

Officers Steven Lackey and Cole Ward were both suspended with pay following the incident, Anderson said at a news conference on April 24.

The city's online salary database indicates most full-time officers, including Lackey, have been paid for around 1,070 hours of work this year. Ward has only been paid for 973 hours. The $21,699 figure the database shows him earning in 2019 did not increase during the city's last pay period.

Ward initially stopped Sheppard, who was suspected of leaving the scene of an accident several miles away. He called Lackey for backup, telling him upon arrival that Sheppard had reached for his baton and squeezed his genitals as he struggled to handcuff her.



At one point, Ward said he would charge Sheppard with criminal mischief if his sunglasses were scratched during the struggle, and he can be heard calling her a “dumb (expletive)” and saying “Do you know how stupid you are?” to reach for his weapon.

"You’re lucky I didn’t put my gun in the back of your noggin and make you obey,” Ward said to Sheppard in the video.

Lackey struck Sheppard with his baton, which Anderson said looked like a justified use of force because Sheppard was resisting. The chief said he took issue with the language and behavior of the officers.

"I was disgusted by what I saw, by what I heard and I was embarrassed by it," he said in April. "It does not reflect our core values here at the Tuscaloosa Police Department.”

Lackey was hired in May 2017. Ward was hired in December 2017.

Court records show the second-degree assault, resisting arrest and disarming a law enforcement officers charges against Sheppard have been transferred from District Court to Circuit Court, but there are no online records for the Circuit Court cases to indicate whether the charges will be dropped.