Florida teen gets $35K in topless lawsuit

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP)  A teenager who sued the city after claiming a police officer forced her to do jumping jacks while topless has reached a $35,000 settlement, officials said.

The City Council unanimously approved the settlement Thursday, City Manager Tom Bonfield said.

Officer Shawn Patrick Shields found the girl, then 16, and a 19-year-old man together in a parked car in April 2003. Shields ordered the two teens out of the car, then told them he could arrest them for lewd and lascivious behavior, authorities said.

The girl told investigators that Shields told her to perform five topless jumping jacks, which she said she did as he shone his flashlight on her.

Both teenagers passed polygraph tests.

Shields was later fired and pleaded no contest to extortion. He was placed on probation for two years in December 2003 and ordered to write a letter of apology to the girl.

The name of the girl's attorney was not immediately known.

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