CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It was less than a minute between the time Cleveland police officers responded to a domestic call on Glenside Road and when Germaine Ware -- who was sitting in a parked car nearby -- was shot in the back, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit.

Ware, then 25, was in riding in white Chevrolet Impala that officers thought was connected to an emergency call about a man lurking outside his ex-girlfriend's home.

Officer John Sanderson walked a few feet to the driver's side window of the car, which was parked with the lights on, to check out what he said were suspicious movements by Ware, a passenger in the car driven by friend.

About This Series

Northeast Ohio Media Group and The Plain Dealer reviewed the details of nearly 70 lawsuits against Cleveland officers that resulted in taxpayer payouts over the past decade. The lawsuits alleged that officers used excessive force, made wrongful arrests or needlessly escalated violence during encounters with citizens. Though the city admitted no wrongdoing in settling many of the lawsuits, taken as a whole, the patterns that emerge from the cases match closely with the patterns of police behavior that were described in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. The city has declined the opportunity to discuss the individual cases in more detail. In response to questions, the city released a statement contending that it seriously considers all allegations of excessive force by officers. This, according to the city, has resulted in a steady drop in the annual number of incidents.

Some police settlements confidential; criminal charges deter some from calling out police brutality, lawsuits say

Driver alleges he was needlessly beaten during traffic stop by Cleveland police

Lawsuit settled after man sitting in car shot in the back by officer

Cleveland officer punches disabled veteran, high school teacher outside Indians game

Officers fabricated story to justify breaking man's ribs, according to lawsuit

Find more cases

Read more about this series

As he approached the car, Sanderson said he drew his gun, aimed it toward the rolled-down window and then shouted for the car to be turned off.

Instead, Sanderson said, the car lurched toward him.

Sanderson fired a one shot and jumped back, he said.

"I thought he was trying to run over me and kill me," the officer later testified in court. Sanderson said the car brushed up against him. He said Ware had learned over and turned the wheel toward him.

Ware was later arrested at a nearby hospital where he sought treatment for the gunshot wound to his shoulder. He was later indicted on charges of felonious assault on a police officer and failure to comply with a police order.

A jury found Ware not guilty assaulting Sanderson. A judge convicted him of a lesser offense of not following the officer's command to stop.

Ware sued Sanderson over the June 2010 shooting, arguing that he was maliciously prosecuted and that Sanderson didn't have to shoot him.

Now 29, Ware said his life hasn't been the same since the shooting. The bullet that pierced his shoulder is still lodged in his neck precariously beneath an artery. He has weakness in his upper body and arm that has prevented him from doing the physical factory work he did before the shooting. Ware said he also gets panicky when a police cruiser pulls behind him, even though he knows he's doing nothing wrong.

"My life hasn't been the same since it happened," Ware said from his Cleveland Heights home this week. "I'm just really terrified of police."

Ware wanted to get involved in recent protests against police brutality after 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot, but feared being arrested and put in jail.

"It just brought it all back like it was yesterday," he said. "They feel like because they have a badge I can do what they want."

As part of the lawsuit, Ware said he was offered a plea deal if he agreed not to sue based on a violation of his civil rights. That, he said, bothered him as if they police were trying to cover up what they had done by pressuring him to agree that he had done something wrong.

An expert hired by Ware's attorneys for the civil case reviewed the police reports and trial transcripts and concluded that Sanderson violated department policy and used greater force than needed.

The officer was not in immediate danger, the expert, Melvin Tucker said. The expert and attorneys in both cases raised questions about Sanderson's account, even wheeling a mock up of the car door into the courtroom for the criminal jury to show he wouldn't have been hit with the car if he was standing as he described.

Ware's defense attorney, Steven Bradley, told the jury Sanderson played it "fast and loose" with his story after he realized he had violated departmental rules on the use of deadly force.

City attorneys who defended the civil rights lawsuit, said the shooting, which happened during a rapidly evolving situation, was justified. They said it was reasonable for officers to approach Ware to investigate what he was doing and that it was Ware who escalated the situation by not heeding Sanderson's command.

"Sanderson was not required to wait until the vehicle was on top of him before defending himself," city attorneys wrote.

"Sanderson's use of force was reasonable under the facts of the rapidly evolving situation with which he was presented."

Ware said the small amount of money he collected after paying attorney fees and other bills doesn't begin to make up for the havoc the shooting caused in his life.

"I try to put it behind me so I try not to think about it," he said. "But it still weighs on me today."

The city paid $70,000 in 2013 to settle the case.