The city of Vallejo has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by a couple against the Vallejo Police Department during a December 2015 incident.

The city council voted in a Sept. 10 closed session to approve the settlement and resolve the lawsuit which alleged Vallejo Officer Robert DeMarco used his metal baton to brutally break Joseph Ledesma’s arms in multiple places and fracture his shin.

The suit, filed on behalf of Joseph and Jeannie Ledesma in January 2017, named DeMarco, his partner Officer Amanda Blain, and the city as defendants.

Neither DeMarco nor Blain activated their body cameras during the incident – something U.S. District Judge Morrison England noted in February when he denied the city’s motion for summary judgement.

Providing a copy of the signed settlement to this newspaper, Vallejo spokeswoman Joanna Altman said the city sought a negotiated agreement “in order to avoid a potentially lengthy and expensive trial.”

Altman also said the police department has begun “an in-depth analysis” regarding how and when officers use their body-worn cameras.

“This absence of video evidence is something our police and city leadership takes very seriously,” Altman said. “(Interim Vallejo Police Chief Joseph Allio) has made clear that his expectation is that this important tool be used to achieve maximum transparency in police activity.”

The couple hired the law offices of John Burris to represent them in the lawsuit.

“This case is the perfect example of Vallejo PD’s long history of failing to discipline and supervise employees who have engaged in excessive force,” said Melissa Nold, an attorney in Burris’ office on Wednesday. “After nearly four years, the Ledesma’s are just glad this matter is behind them.”

The incident began when DeMarco and Blain responded to a domestic violence call at the couple’s Vallejo home on the night of Dec. 8, 2015.

According to the lawsuit, Joseph Ledesma was in his truck, attempting to tow a trailer away from the couple’s home, when the two officers arrived. DeMarco approached Joseph Ledesma, while Blain went to speak with Jeannie Ledesma.

When Joseph Ledesma failed to get out of the truck in a timely manner, DeMarco pointed his weapon and ordered the man out of the vehicle, the lawsuit alleged. At the same moment, the Ledesmas’ pit bull “Bella” ran through an open gate.

Demarco testified that he feared for his safety and shot the dog once with his stun gun and that’s when Joseph Ledesma got out of the truck, walked across the yard and took a “fighting posture.”

The officer said that’s when he stuck Ledesma a few times with the baton to subdue the man, and Blain said she came over to deploy her Taser after allegedly seeing the man try to kick DeMarco. The Taser strike failed and Blain followed up with additional shots in stun mode. The officers were then able to arrest Ledesma.

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The couple testified that “Bella” was acting friendly, wagging her tail, before being Tased. Joseph Ledesma denies fighting back; instead he testified that he ran over to remove the Taser barbs from the dog. Ledesma alleges he was hit 20 to 30 times by DeMarco before curling up in a fetal position.

He alleged DeMarco beat him with his Asp, extendable metal baton, so many times it bent the device, preventing it from retracting.