Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
The Vestavia Hills City Council on Monday is scheduled to consider whether to settle a wrongful death and excessive force lawsuit filed against the city and two police officers in 2022.
Two officers, Nathan Stewart and Thomas Campbell, fired shots at Douglas Hart, 67, of Irondale as he drove away from them on Old Overton Road on Feb. 8, 2020, according to the lawsuit. Hart was struck in the back of the head by a bullet, causing him to lose control of his vehicle, run off the road and crash headfirst into the Cahaba River, the lawsuit said.
An autopsy report indicated that “Although the gunshot wound to his head was not fatal in and of itself, it did cause injury to Mr. Hart’s brain that likely impacted his ability to maintain control of his vehicle on the roadway. … The gunshot wound to the head contributed to his death.”
Hart’s widow, Cinderella Reeder, filed suit in federal court in 2022, claiming the officers used excessive force and wrongfully killed her husband, whom she claims had been hospitalized for depression in the past, was in a mental health crisis the day of the shooting and did nothing to threaten officers or anyone else at the time of the shooting.
The officers initially were called to respond to a report of a man with a gun on the side of Old Overton Road, telling another man (who was a friend) to leave, the lawsuit said. When Campbell arrived, Hart already had driven away and a witness told him she believed Hart was suicidal, the suit said. Another officer spotted Hart’s vehicle nearby and stopped him, but Hart’s vehicle began slowly moving again. Campbell arrived from the opposite direction, stood in front of Hart’s vehicle with gun drawn and ordered him to stop and raise his hands, the lawsuit said. Hart stopped his vehicle, put his hands above the steering wheel but the vehicle began moving once again.
The lawsuit claims Hart repeatedly and calmly told Campbell he was not going to hurt them and that Hart only began moving forward again after Campbell moved out of the way and that the only contact between Campbell and Hart’s vehicle was Campbell’s hand hitting the windshield.
“Defendants failed to implement safe and standard police tactics to prevent Hart from driving away, including failing to block the available pathways or the use [of] spike or tack strips to deflate Hart’s tires,” the suit says. “Hart was not a fleeing felon, nor had Hart committed any crime before multiple police officers were dispatched to confront him.”
The lawsuit also claims that, even after Hart’s vehicle got past Campbell, Campbell began holstering his weapon to get in his vehicle again until Stewart fired shots at Hart’s vehicle. At this point, Campbell retrieved his gun and fired at least five rounds as well, the lawsuit claims.
“Hart never drove erratically or displayed any intention to harm others,” the suit says. “Hart never reached for or touched a weapon in any encounter with the defendants.”
Campbell, in his response to the lawsuit, confirmed that Hart stopped briefly and put his hands above the steering wheel. However, “Hart lurched forward in his car and hit Campbell in his lower leg,” according to Campbell’s response. The city of Vestavia Hills, in its response, denied that Hart was not threatening Campbell, noting that Hart moved his vehicle toward Campbell, ignoring police commands.
Campbell, Stewart and the city denied excessive force and wrongful death.
However, the city’s insurance company and city attorney are recommending settlement of the case after going through mediation on April 12, 2023, and June 6 of this year. City Attorney Pat Boone and Bentley Owens III, another attorney handling the case on behalf of the city, said settlement was in the best interests of the city and the police officers due to the unpredictabllity of a jury and the uncertainty of how the federal court would rule regarding the legal issues of immunity.
The city’s insurance company, States Self-Insured Risk Retention Group, agreed to settle the lawsuit for a confidential amount during mediation. As part of the settlement, the city would be responsible for paying a $250,000 deductible. Because the city already has spent $118,195 on legal fees in this case, the remaining amount the city would pay would be $131,805.
The Vestavia Hills City Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m.
