BART Settles Lawsuit: 5 Men Detained With Oscar Grant To Get $175,000
OAKLAND (KCBS)— Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has settled a lawsuit brought by five men who were detained with Oscar Grant on the Fruitvale Station platform in Oakland when he was fatally shot.
John Burris, attorney for the five men, told KCBS on Tuesday that the transit agency will pay the men $175,000 in the federal civil rights lawsuit.
In the suit, the men — brothers Nigel and Jack Bryson, Michael Greer, Carlos Reyes and Fernando "June" Anicete - said they were handcuffed and interrogated for hours while mourning the death of their friend.
Grant was shot by BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle on New Year's Day of 2009. Mehserle, who said he had been reaching for his Taser, was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Burris said this brings to an end a very painful and traumatic time for them.
Burris previously secured total settlements of $2.8 million from BART on behalf of Grant's mother and daughter. He added that two lawsuits are still pending; one by Grant's father and the other from the mother of another man who was detained at the time, but has since passed away.
BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the agency is pleased to end this case and adds that a trial would have been very lengthy and costly.