City Of Tulsa Settles Tulsa Police Department Beating Lawsuit

By Emory Bryan, The News on 6

TULSA, OK -- The City of Tulsa has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit against three Tulsa Police officers.

Read the lawsuit.

According to the settlement documents, the payment is not an admission of guilt, but a method of avoiding further expense.

Read City of Tulsa's response to lawsuit.

The officers were accused of beating, without provocation, a 16-year-old boy, leaving him with permanent vision and hearing damage. The incident happened in East Tulsa on April 12, 2008.

Plaintiff Kisha Evans filed the lawsuit on behalf of her son, who was identified in court records only as "TME" because of his age.

The Tulsa Police Officers named in the lawsuit are Stephen Boyes, Timothy Pike and David Hale.

The officers are white and "TME" is black.

The city and the officers agreed to the settlement, which has also been approved by Mayor Dewey Bartlett. The City Council will vote on authorization of the payment this week.

Read the Tulsa city council authorization request.

The city council review is limited to confirming the city has the money to pay the settlement.

The money will come from the "sinking fund" tapped by the city for this type of payment. It will not affect the general fund, which because of recent shortages, has led to layoffs for police officers and other city workers, and pay cuts for firefighters.