The Metro Council voted this week to pay $236,000 to a man who was wrongfully arrested in 2019 by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
In November 2019, MNPD officers were surveilling a murder suspect at a hotel. They observed a suspicious vehicle and began to follow it. When the vehicle started speeding, officers tried to initiate a traffic stop, but the car sped away from Interstate 65 North to Briley Parkway East.
A few minutes later, officers believed they had located the vehicle on Briley Parkway and began to follow it. However, they were actually tailing Ralph Ward.
Court documents allege the vehicle police were trying to follow was a black Nissan, but Ward drove a red Lexus. One officer did try to say the vehicle in question was not the red Lexus, but this information was disregarded, according to the lawsuit.
Ward, who was traveling home to Nashville from delivering Amazon packages in Hendersonville and Gallatin, stopped at R&B Liquors in Nolensville.
Officers followed Ward into the store and arrested him at gunpoint, the lawsuit alleges, saying he had fled a traffic stop. Ward complied with the arrest but was injured while he was being handcuffed.
Ward tried to tell officers he had not fled a traffic stop and offered to show them GPS data on his phone that showed he had not been on the interstate where the police lost the original car.
However, he was taken to jail and charged with felony evading arrest. His charges were eventually dismissed, and his arrest was expunged.
In November 2020, Ward filed a federal lawsuit against the arresting officers, Kevin Reynolds and Terrance Stuckey, as well as the Metro government. Ward argued his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the false arrest, excessive force and malicious prosecution.
According to the Metro resolution, Ward claimed $4,338.85 in damages, which included his bond, attorneys fees, missed work days and travel to court. He also claimed an undisclosed amount of damages for emotional distress and a claim for punitive damages.
Last year, Metro Council voted to make an offer of $50,000 plus fees and costs, which were $107,000 at the time.
After that offer was made, Ward reduced his demand and participated in mediation.
However, to eliminate a risk of continued litigation and rising expenses, the Metro Department of Law recommended settling the claim for $236,000.
This is the third settlement from Metro's Judgment and Losses Fund, which retains a balance of $16,750,985.
In December, Metro Council voted to pay a former Nashville firefighter $450,000 in a First Amendment case.
