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A5
U.S. NEWS Tuesday 15 May 2018

Phoenix agrees to

settle over 2011

death in Arpaio's jail

By JACQUES BILLEAUD Michael Manning, a lawyer
Associated Press for Atencio's family, said
PHOENIX (AP) — The city of the terms of the settlement
Phoenix has agreed to pay prevent him from publicly
an undisclosed amount of revealing the amount of
money to settle a lawsuit money that Phoenix will
over the 2011 death of a pay. But the amount was
mentally ill man who was expected to be revealed
arrested by its police of- when the City Council
ficers and later died in a votes on the settlement in
jail run by then-Sheriff Joe the future.
Arpaio, ending a case in "It has been a seven-year
which the jail's operator nightmare (for Atencio's
had already paid millions of family)," Manning said.
dollars to the man's family. "They can now continue in
The latest settlement was relative peace."
reached in late April, just Kathleen Wieneke, who
weeks before the city represents the city, didn't
faced trial in the law- immediately respond to a
suit over Ernest Atencio's phone call and email seek-
death. Maricopa County, ing comment Monday.
which operates the coun- Atencio, 44, was arrested in
ty's jails, avoided a trial by December 2011 by Phoenix
agreeing two months ago police on a misdemeanor
to pay $7 million to Aten- assault charge after they
cio's survivors. say he frightened a woman
Arpaio, who ran the coun- by yelling at her and kick-
ty's jails as sheriff and is ing at her apartment door.
now a candidate for U.S. The officers who arrested
Senate, was known for en- him had an encounter with
acting tough jail policies Atencio earlier that day
during his 24 years as sher- at a convenience store,
iff of metro Phoenix. The where they concluded his
well-known political figure erratic behavior was the
was convicted of criminal result of mental illness, not In this Dec. 18, 2013, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio pauses as he answers a ques-
contempt of court in a sep- intoxication. tion during a news conference at Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Headquarters in Phoenix.
arate racial profiling law- The lawsuit accuses an of- Associated Press
suit but later pardoned by ficer of attacking Atencio
President Donald Trump, his at the jail after he refused lawsuit. gressively toward the offi- rections and encouraged
political ally. to take off one of his shoes. Earlier, while being booked cers. him to make funny faces
Critics say he created a It alleges that Arpaio's offi- at a jail in downtown Phoe- At the time he died, the while his mug shot was tak-
culture of cruelty within the cers joined in and formed a nix, Atencio was seen talk- sheriff's office had said en. One officer is accused
jails that took the lives of in- "dog pile" on top of the in- ing to a container of pea- Atencio was combative of saying authorities should
mates and proved costly. mate. A sheriff's officer fired nut butter as if it were a when police brought him make it the "Mug Shot of
Maricopa County has paid a stun gun at Atencio, and person, even offering to to jail. the Week," referring to a
$40 million in jail-related le- another later struck him give up his jacket to it, po- The lawsuit alleges that the contest in which people
gal claims that were filed as other officers held him lice said. His lawyers have officers taunted Atencio for can vote on their favorite
during Arpaio's tenure. down, according to the said he wasn't acting ag- not being able to follow di- booking photo.q