KC police agree to pay $300,000 to settle excessive force lawsuit

Kansas City police will pay $300,000 to a robbery suspect who sued the police department, alleging that officers used excessive force even though he complied with their commands during a 2014 arrest that was captured on dashcam video.

Manuel G. Palacio, 25, said that the arresting officers also drove his head into the ground and verbally threatened him during the incident that happened on May 2, 2014, at Independence and Cyress avenues.

In reaching the settlement, Kansas City police did not admit liability or wrongdoing. The lawsuit named officers Shannon Hansen and Jacob Harris and Sgt. Todd Hall.

Hansen is no longer with the department. In May, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of harassment and was sentenced to two years of probation along with 30 days of shock time in jail.

In October 2015, Palacio was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing.

According to court records, Palacio matched the description of a man suspected in an armed street robbery when officers spotted him. A dashcam video showed police driving onto a sidewalk and striking Palacio with the vehicle before an officer gets out with his service weapon drawn. Palacio complied with a command to get on the ground. Officers handcuffed him.

In his lawsuit, Palacio said he did not resist and was unarmed.

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 2:46 PM with the headline "KC police agree to pay $300,000 to settle excessive force lawsuit."