NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A settlement has been reached between the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and an inmate who filed a lawsuit alleging abuse in the parish jail.
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reported Monday (https://bit.ly/2mOd9jC ) that U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon dismissed Bryce Hemstad’s lawsuit, writing the parties had “firmly agreed upon a compromise.”
In the lawsuit, Hemstad, now an inmate in St. Charles Parish, accused former deputy Timothy Hooker of squirting him with pepper spray and hitting him several times while Hemstad was handcuffed to a bench in November 2015.
The sheriff’s office fired and arrested Hooker in December 2015. Court records show he was booked with simple battery and scheduled for trial Tuesday.
The lawsuit accused other deputies of not stopping the attack.
No details were released about the settlement agreement.
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