WORCESTER � The city will file a motion asking a U.S. District Court judge to set aside a $15,000 jury award to a former Worcester teacher who charged that she was beaten and arrested by a city police officer in 2008 without justification.

A federal jury on Friday awarded the money to Wakeelah A. Cocroft, a former instructor at Worcester Technical High School and Worcester East Middle School, in connection with an early morning incident that occurred Dec. 28, 2008, with police Officer Jeremy Smith at the Mobil gas station at Park Avenue and Institute Road.

In a civil suit, Ms. Cocroft said Officer Smith had retaliated because she objected to the way he addressed her and her sister and for asserting her rights.

Ms. Cocroft was a passenger in the car of her sister, Clytheia Mwangi, when the two pulled into the station for gas.

According to court documentation, Officer Smith stopped his cruiser behind Ms. Mwangi's vehicle and began screaming at her that she had been speeding.

The suit charged that the police officer addressed Ms. Mwangi in an "offensive, accusatory, and condescending manner."

While the officer prepared to write a ticket, Ms. Cocroft went into the station to pay for gas and then returned to use the pump.

According to Ms. Cocroft's court testimony, Officer Smith began yelling at her and ordered her to return to the vehicle.

She told Officer Smith he had no right to speak to her in that manner and that she knew her rights.

Officer Smith then pulled her away from the car and wrestled her to the ground.

She was subsequently booked on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Ms. Cocroft was found not guilty of disorderly conduct, but she was convicted of resisting arrest in Worcester Central District Court.

City officials said she lost her appeal.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, who represented Ms. Cocroft in the case, said the jury found that the officer's actions violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment and a state civil rights law, which forbids police officers from arresting people without probable cause to believe they have committed a crime.

"This is a long-overdue vindication for Ms. Cocroft and an important victory for civil rights in Worcester," said Carl Williams, an ACLU lawyer who represented the plaintiff.

City Solicitor David Moore said the city will ask the judge in the case to put aside the verdict because of errors made by the jury.

"We think there were some mistakes made," he said.

Mr. Moore said the jury ignored that Ms. Cocroft had been found guilty of resisting arrest in criminal court and that Officer Smith did not violate the state's civil rights law.

"There was no excessive force," Mr. Moore said.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said he believes there are legal grounds to challenge the verdict.

He said, for example, that the jury found in favor of Officer Smith on three "significant" counts: That he did not use excessive force in the arrest, that he did not violate the plaintiff's First Amendment rights and that he did not commit an assault and battery.

"Our belief is that Officer Smith lawfully seized the plaintiff, and, as a result, we plan to appeal this one finding to the federal district court," Chief Gemme said.