CLEVELAND, Ohio – The family of Tanisha Anderson, a mentally ill woman who died in an encounter with Cleveland police in November 2014, has settled its lawsuit with the city for $2.25 million, according to a news release from the family’s attorneys.
The settlement brings to the close more than two years of litigation. Anderson, 37, died on the pavement outside of a police cruiser with her hands cuffed behind her back.
Anderson suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and was suffering from a breakdown when her family called police to its home on Ansel Road in November 2014. She died after officers Scott Aldridge and Bryan Myers cuffed her hands behind her back and placed her in the back of a police car following a struggle.
After Anderson got out of the car, one of the officers used a take-down move on her, placed his knee on her back and placed her in handcuffs before she stopped moving, Anderson’s family has said.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Anderson’s death a homicide and said she asphyxiated while being restrained in a prone position. Obesity and other health factors also contributed to her death, the office said.
An expert hired by the Anderson family said in a report released in July that Aldridge and Myers acted “contrary to generally accepted police practices” and that their actions were “unreasonable and excessive for the circumstances.”
The expert, former Deputy Los Angeles Police Chief Lou Reiter, said both men also failed to provide adequate medical care to Anderson.
This story will be updated.
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