CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that East Cleveland must pay $30 million to a man whom officers unlawfully arrested, beat and confined to a storage closet for four days.
Arnold Black won a $20 million verdict against East Cleveland in 2019. Since then, the city has ignored his requests for payments, his attorneys said. The ruling will force the city to pay the judgment, plus $10 million in interest.
For years, the impoverished city has struggled to pay any judgments against it in court. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King and Law Director Willa Hemmons for comment.
Under state law, the city must pay off the judgment by placing a tax on its residents to raise the money. There has been no indication that East Cleveland would do that.
In 2012, Black was arrested during a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, Det. Randy Hicks, who was off duty, arrived at the scene and questioned Black about drug dealers in the city, court records say.
Hicks struck Black in the face and head and then transported him to the city’s jail, according to court records. Black was placed in a storage room with a wooden bench, storage lockers and cleaning supplies. Black was locked in the room for four days with no bed or toilet, court records show.
Black suffered headaches and blurred vision for several months after the incident and underwent surgery to remove blood from his brain, according to the opinion.
In 2014, Black filed a lawsuit against the city, Hicks and the city’s then police chief Ralph Spotts. A jury trial was delayed in 2016 because of several legal challenges. A second jury trial in August 2019 found the city and the officers liable for damages. The jury awarded Black $50 million, with $20 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages against the officers. The punitive damages have not been paid.
The city first appealed the ruling to the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals, which confirmed the decision in 2020.
Through a certified letter, Black’s attorneys, Bobby DiCello and Justin Hawal of DiCello Levitt, requested East Cleveland to pay the settlement in 2021. The city ignored the request, which led Black to go to the Supreme Court in February 2023 to force East Cleveland to pay the amount or set up a payment plan.
“Had the city just done what it was supposed to do, and not keep bad police officers under its roof, we probably wouldn’t have this problem,” DiCello said. “They chose this fight, and we are finishing it.”
“Citizens in Northeast Ohio need to wake up and realize their vote matters,” DiCello said. “East Cleveland should be a safe and properly functioning city and the citizens are entitled to that.”
The city argued that Black was not entitled to take the case before the Ohio Supreme Court because the city had filed a motion with the trial court that argued that the amount owed to Black should be reduced $250,000. The city argued the Court could not force them to pay Black if the amount owed was uncertain.
In another court case, the city has been ordered to pay more than $8 million to Charles Hunt, who was struck by a police cruiser in 2017.
DiCello also represents Charles Hunt. He said the city has not made any payments to Hunt or Black.
“How can a city ignore pleas for justice while the citizens are suffering?” DiCello said.
Just last week, the city asked the Gov. Mike DeWine for help with patrol, as the department lacks enough officers to patrol the city. The city currently has 32 officers to patrol the city of 14,000.
The city’s most current police chief, Brian Gerhard, who was appointed in 2022, resigned in June over antisemitic and hom*ophobic memes that he admitted to texting. Before Gerhard, Chief Scott Gardner was fired in 2022. He was convicted of a tax charge and ordered to pay $200,000 in back taxes.
This story has been updated to indicate Scott Gardner’s conviction on a tax charge.
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