Since 2020, a Black pizza delivery driver has been awaiting justice after his route was rudely interrupted one evening by a group of Seattle police officers. Now, the city has settled to pay up big time.
Anthony Sims filed a lawsuit stemming from the May 17, 2020 incident. The suit claims Sims was delivering a couple slices to a 7-Eleven in downtown Seattle when he peeped a police cruiser following him. When he parked his car and stepped out, the suit says acting Lt. Robert Brown turned on his police lights and exited the car with his weapon drawn.
Sims was ordered to get back into his car. However, before he knew it, there were several officers surrounding him with their guns drawn, the lawsuit says. He was then ordered to walk backward toward Brown with his hands raised and lift his coat to show he wasn’t armed.
“Your plate comes back as a stolen vehicle. I need you to step out and talk to us, okay?” Brown said via the lawsuit.
Sims then explained the car was indeed his to which Brown responded, “I have no doubt that’s probably your vehicle, and this may just be a misunderstanding of plates,” per the lawsuit.
A few minutes later, the suit says Sims’ license plate came back as “clear” and a “near hit” was noted from a stolen vehicle out of Snohomish with similar license plate digits. Yet, another officer asked Brown if he wanted to check Sims’ trunk. Without asking for consent to search, Sims’ suit says the cop took the keys out of Sims’ ignition and popped the trunk.
Following the search, Sims was declared free to go and the traffic stop was reported to be for a broken blinker, the lawsuit says. Two years after the incident, Sims took legal action alleging the officers’ actions were unconstitutional and displayed excessive force.
A trial judge found Sims’ Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure were violated and also found evidence the stop was racially motivated, per The Seattle Times.
Of course, the cops tried to claim qualified immunity. However, a unanimous decision by a three-judge appeals panel upheld the judge’s ruling to deny the officers those civil protections, the report says. Instead, the decision came down to a settlement of $319,000 owed to Sims by the city and the ultimate dismissal of the lawsuit.
However, the order to dismiss states the settlement does not imply the officers were justified, the report says.