It has now been two years since the incident took place at a tire shop in Salem, the capital of Oregon.
Car trouble
Garza, a hairdresser by trade, was helping at the tire shop when a man arrived just after midnight with car trouble. Garza was helping the man with his overheated radiator when the police officer arrived and accused him of car theft.
“I turned around and walked away,” Garza told local station KGW. “As I walked away, Officer Baker grabbed me by the right shoulder and right arm, manhandled me and threw me into the front seat of the police car.”
Garza, who is Native American/Hispanic, alleged in the lawsuit that Salem Officer David Baker racially profiled him and that the officer’s violence left him with a permanent physical disability.
Compensation
Garza went to court about the incident and filed a lawsuit. The jury has now ruled in his favor and awarded him damages for false arrest, battery and the use of excessive force.
The eight-member jury ordered the city of Salem to pay Garza two million dollars in compensatory damages, one million dollars in non-economic damages, and another one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in economic damages.
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