Woman manhandled by police officer gets $350,000 settlement

<p>A woman who says she was slammed to the ground and arrested by a police officer at Atlanta's airport has been paid $350,000 to settle a lawsuit.</p><p>The settlement with Stockbridge resident Diana Dietrich-Barnes had been secret. But insurance carrier AIG Aviation gave the city permission Tuesday to release it, said Jerry DeLoach of Atlanta's law department.</p><p>Dietrich-Barnes' attorney, Harlan Miller, said Dietrich-Barnes was satisfied with the settlement and ready to move on.</p><p>"She is still trying to get over it," Miller said.</p><p>News of the settlement comes just a few days after Atlanta's civil service board ruled there was not enough evidence to fire Officer Terrance Alexander for his treatment of Dietrich-Barnes. The city is appealing that decision, so Alexander has not been reinstated with the Atlanta Police Department, DeLoach said.</p><p>A video camera captured the Nov. 2, 2004 incident at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the footage was broadcast around the nation.</p><p>Dietrich-Barnes had circled the airport several times looking for her 78-year-old mother, who was arriving from Houston, when she stopped her vehicle at the curb to check her itinerary. Alexander told her to move and the outside mirror of her vehicle bumped him when she started to back up, she said.</p><p>That is when Alexander pulled her from her car, threw her to the pavement and handcuffed her.</p><p>Alexander claimed Dietrich-Barnes had hurt him by slamming her car door into him. But the officer's supervisors dropped charges against the woman after reviewing the video.</p><p>The Atlanta Police Department later fired Alexander after an internal investigation found he used unnecessary force.</p><p>Since the incident, officers at the airport have undergone training to help avoid potentially volatile encounters with travelers rushing to and from the airport.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc280)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/11/135417