Johnny Hollman referred to as 911 after he was in a minor visitors accident. However as a substitute of serving to, the responding officer beat and tased Hollman after he was hesitant to signal a ticket, ensuing within the 62-year-old’s dying.
Hollman’s household sued, and so they’ve now been awarded a $3.8 million settlement.
“While nothing can undo what has been done,” Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens stated in a assertion this week, “my priority was to get this family as close to full closure from this unfortunate tragedy as soon as possible.”
Through the night of August tenth, 2023, Hollman was driving house when he was concerned in a low-speed collision with one other car. In keeping with Hollman’s household’s lawsuit, each Hollman and the opposite driver referred to as 911 to report the accident. Whereas nobody was injured, each drivers disputed who was at fault for the accident.
After greater than an hour, Atlanta Police Division Officer Kiran Kimbrough arrived on the scene. Quickly after, he determined that Hollman was at fault and wrote him a quotation.
Nonetheless, Hollman was hesitant to signal the quotation. “Deacon Hollman did not explicitly refuse to sign the citation,” the swimsuit states. (Hollman was a Deacon at his native church). “But in each instance when directed to do so, responded that the collision was not his fault.”
Ultimately, Kimbrough threatened to ship Hollman to jail until he signed the ticket, and Hollman referred to as one in every of his daughters.
In keeping with the swimsuit, Kimbrough then started strolling in the direction of Hollman. Nearly concurrently, Kimbrough reached to seize one in every of Hollman’s arms, and Hollman stated “I’ll sign the ticket.”
Hollman stated a number of extra occasions that he would signal the ticket. Nonetheless, “ignoring Deacon Hollman’s concession to his request that he sign the ticket, Defendant Kimbrough performed a leg sweep maneuver on Deacon Hollman, taking Deacon Hollman to the ground,” the swimsuit states. “While doing so, Defendant Kimbrough commented to Deacon Hollman: ‘You acting crazy!'”
Over the subsequent a number of minutes, Kimbrough struck the again of Hollman’s head a minimum of twice along with his fist, tased him twice, and allowed one other citizen to “assist” him by sitting on Hollman’s head and neck, whereas ignoring Hollman’s frequent statements that he could not breathe.
Ultimately, Hollman was taken to a neighborhood hospital the place he was pronounced lifeless. An post-mortem later concluded that the reason for Hollman’s dying was murder.
Following the incident, the Atlanta Police Division revised its insurance policies to ban arresting a person solely for refusing to signal a ticket, and Kimborough was fired.
Hollman’s household filed a lawsuit towards Kimbrough and the Metropolis of Atlanta in January. This week, they have been awarded a $3.8 million settlement within the case.
“We recognize this, not just as a victory for their family,” Mawuli Davis, one in every of Hollman’s household’s attorneys instructed The Atlanta Journal-Structure on Monday. “But really an acknowledgment of the importance of community in these fights for justice.”