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Hawthorne Robber Shot By Police Awarded $2 Million Settlement
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Stanley Jordan, a prison inmate presently serving time for robbing a cellphone store, was awarded $2 million in a settlement Thursday evening for withdrawing his lawsuit that alleges he was unjustly shot by the Hawthorne Police Officer who apprehended him.
A report from the Daily Breezesays that as a result of the shooting, Jordan became a paraplegic, and can no longer walk.
On the evening of October 11 2012, Jordan robbed a Metro PCS store at the corner of Rosecrans and Prairie Avenues in Hawthorne, CA. He fled, being pursued by police, and was eventually cornered in the laundry room of a Gardena apartment complex.
Accounts of what happened next differ. Jordan alleged in his court case he was found standing in the laundry room, shot by police without any furtive or otherwise aggressive actions. The police report differs, saying Jordan was discovered hiding inside the laundry room’s dryer, and put up a bitter fight when he was dragged out. The Hawthorne officer, Matthew Manley, says he shot Jordan after Jordan reached for his weapon.
Jordan was shot in the back, a fact that was emphasized his federal legal complaint, filed in September of 2014.
“Without warning, (Manley) proceeded to assault and batter (Jordan),” his lawsuit states, per the Daily Breeze. “Jordan made no aggressive movements, no furtive gestures, and no physical movements which would suggest to a reasonable police officer that he was armed with any kind of weapon.”
Jordan was, indeed, unarmed.
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The settlement means the case will not go to court where a more definitive narrative of events could be established.
The decision to settle rested with the Hawthorne City Attorney, and was signed off by the city council.
“Given the current climate created by a few law enforcement-based incidents occurring nationally, this settlement represents a compromise that, although significant, is less than a potential adverse jury verdict,” City Attorney Russel Miyahira said in a written statement.
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