The city of Durham paid $100,000 to the family of a Black teen who accused a white police officer of using excessive force and falsely arresting him in 2019, newly released records show.
Tony Scott Jr. was 16 when he said the officer picked up and body slammed him inside a convenience store, an incident that upended his life.
Scott faced two felony assault charges after the incident, which his lawyers alleged was a frame job. Prosecutors dropped the charges four months later.
The Durham City Council approved the settlement in a closed session in December 2021, minutes from the meeting released to The News & Observer last month show.
Taxpayer money was used to pay the settlement, as the insurance policy only kicks in above $1 million, City Attorney Kimberly Rehberg explained.
“In the case of the Tony Scott settlement, insurance was not triggered, and the settlement funds were paid out of the city’s funds,” Rehberg said in an email.
Body camera video showed encounter
Scott was a sophomore at Hillside High School when Durham police officer Michael McGlasson accosted him inside a convenience store.
Scott had walked over with friends to pick up a snack during lunch. It was a Wednesday afternoon in late January, cold and cloudy.
Body camera video shows the teen leaning against the checkout counter when McGlasson approached. Police said they had just gotten a 911 call about drug activity and Scott was dressed similarly.
“What you up to?” McGlasson asked.
“Me?” Scott replied.
“I’m going to pat you down real quick, all right?” the officer said, walking closer.
“I ain’t done nothing,” Scott said, drawing away as the officer grabbed his wrist.
The officer threatened handcuffs and the video soon erupted in chaos.
Scott’s lawyer said the teen was picked up and body slammed. McGlasson said his shoulder was dislocated during the encounter.
The teen fled the store and ran through the woods, hiding in a friend’s SUV as police searched for him. His parents took him to the jail later that night.
Scott said in a deposition the experience “terrified” him and he suffered headaches, plus pain in his wrists and arms from being grabbed and slung down.
He said he left Hillside because people looked at him differently after the incident.
“I was depressed and embarrassed,” he said in the deposition.
Scott graduated instead from Holton Career & Resource Center.
What happened to the officers?
The $100,000 settlement ended a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Scott, now 20, and his father. They were represented by Charlotte attorney Sharika Robinson.
The suit named the city, police department and two police officers: McGlasson and the officer who wrote up the arrest warrant, Cornell Richards.
McGlasson, 30, was found to have violated the department’s policy on warrantless search and seizure, an Oct. 31, 2019, letter to Scott’s father showed.
McGlasson was suspended that month, according to his personnel file, the only time in his six years with the department. He remains on staff.
Richards was fired in October, his personnel file shows, though the city has not yet provided records explaining why.
The 35-year-old officer was hired in 2007 and suspended six times in his 15-year career at the Durham Police Department.
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