Syracuse, N.Y. -- The city of Syracuse has agreed to settle a lawsuit involving controversial former police officer Vallon Smith for $150,000.
The city is asking the Common Council to approve the settlement and end a lawsuit against Smith and the city that was filed by Dr. Mark Johnston in 2020.
Johnston sued for $9.2 million during his initial filing against Smith and the city, accusing the former Syracuse police officer of using excessive force by punching and tackling him after he got into an argument with another officer while trying to park.
Johnston said he suffered two broken ribs, a head injury and cuts and bruises.
Smith was involved in two previous police brutality lawsuits that cost the city $400,000. Johnston’s lawyer, Jesse Ryder, of Syracuse, was the lawyer in both of them.
In the most recent case, the Syracuse police said that Johnston was the initial aggressor, that Smith was coming to the aid of another officer and that Johnston refused to follow orders from an officer. Two internal investigations conducted by the SPD determined that Smith’s actions of punching and tackling Johnston were reasonable.
Johnston said he was trying to park his car in downtown Syracuse so that he could watch his daughter finish that year’s Mountain Goat Race. When he was unable to find parking he grew frustrated with an officer directing traffic and got out of his car to argue with her.
An independent witness, a valet driver at the Syracuse Marriott Downtown, said Johnston stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road, got out and challenged a traffic officer. Other officers said Johnston was blocking traffic, acting erratically, harassing a community service officer and disregarding officers’ orders.
In its request to the Common Council, city lawyer Susan Katzoff said that the city denies the excessive force allegations in the lawsuit but determined that the settlement is in the city’s best financial interest. The two sides used a court-ordered mediation process to reach the settlement.
Smith became one of the city’s most controversial officers and a target of advocates for police reform during previous lawsuits that accused him of excessive force, both of which were settled for $200,000 in 2020.
The first lawsuit was filed in 2016, when Smith was accused of excessive force by Maurice Crawley, a Syracuse resident. Crawley said that Smith pulled him off his bicycle, slammed him to the ground, then punched and hit him in the face, head and lower back.
Crawley was ticketed for harassment in the incident, following multiple interactions when he allegedly interrupted Smith doing police work. Smith accused Crawley of making threats and insults during those interruptions, including warning “the tornado is coming,” and calling Smith an “Uncle Tom.”
In the other incident, Smith broke the arm of a 14-year-old Nottingham student Jabari Boykins in 2017 while making an arrest on school property. Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick, who cleared Smith of criminal charges, said the student was unruly, trespassing at the school after being suspended and refused to follow Smith’s instructions to leave.
The Citizen Review Board, the city’s police watchdog, recommended that Smith be fired in 2014 and 2015 before any of the lawsuits. His firing was also one of the demands made by police brutality protestors during the summer of 2020, when the country was reckoning with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake.
Smith was supported by SPD during his career and given multiple awards during his 17 years as a police officer, during which he was disciplined by twice and praised by some prominent fellow members. He retired from the police department last year.
After his retirement, Smith was hired to work for the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office as a special investigator.
Contact Chris Carlson anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-382-7932