Lawsuit said Raleigh police beat man after his car broke down. The city paid him $60,000.

Virginia Bridges

March 20, 2024 at 5:55 a.m.·2 min read

Fredrick Darnell Hall was traveling home from work on Garner Road in Raleigh, when his vehicle died while he attempted to turn left on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to a lawsuit filed in 2020.

The city in 2022 settled that lawsuit with Hall, paying him $60,000 — just one payout in settled complaints alleging police abuse that The News & Observer has compiled.

Unbeknownst to Hall, the lawsuit contends, he began to suffer from multiple medical conditions, possibly heat stroke, related to trying to get his car to restart in the August 2018 heat. Hall also has a history of mental illness dating back to 2012 and has been hospitalized about half a dozen times, his brother Douglas told The News & Observer.

Hall walked down Garner Road and removed his shirt, shoes and socks.

A woman who lived in a house on Garner Road gave him some water and allowed him to sit on her porch. He drank the water and poured it over his head, face and arms and walked back to the car.

When Hall returned to his car, an officer pulled up and asked him what happened. Officer B.S. Harris asked for his driver’s license. Hall complied. He then asked for his driver’s license back, but the officer ignored him, the lawsuit states.

Videos show Raleigh police officers beating man in the street after he swings at them

Hall asked if he could go check to see if his car would start. The officer, who hadn’t said Hall was under arrest, again ignored him, the lawsuit states.

Hall walked back to his car and started to drive away. Harris ran to Hall’s car and pressed the ignition button to stop him.

Hall became “physically violent” with officers and “reasonable and lawful force” was used to prevent Hall from hurting officers or himself, city attorneys wrote in court documents.

Hall contended that he was defending himself after officers assaulted him.

As officers attempted to restrain him, they hit Hall more than 10 times with a metal baton and his hand was stomped on several times, the lawsuit states. The baton was also allegedly used to restrict his breathing, and he was kicked in the head repeatedly, according to the lawsuit.

Captured on police body camera video, an officer said the struggle was “the best fight I have ever been in,” the lawsuit states.

Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.

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