Black Suspect Suffers Spinal Injury In Police Crash When Cop Chases Stolen Car: Wins $414K Settlement

This is wild—it really makes you wonder where people’s heads are at sometimes!

William Smith, who was suspected of shoplifting, was cuffed and put into the back of a police cruiser without a seat belt. Typical day.

But get this! Then the arresting officer got an alert about a stolen car in the area and went into pursuit, not seeming to care he had a passenger, who mind you is in the back seat with no seat belt when the officer gets into a high speed chase. No, Smith had nothing to do with the stolen car!  Well, the worst happened: There was a bad crash and Smith was hurt.

Smith wound up spending two weeks in a Georgia hospital with a cervical spine injury. “He put my life in jeopardy,” Smith told Channel 2 in regard to the officer driving the car. “He put his own life in jeopardy, basically like he didn’t care.”

Fulton County representatives argued the driver of the stolen car t-boned the officer as he exited a parking lot and there was nothing that could be done about it. However, the fact remains Smith was not given a seat belt.

The judge in the case said the county’s refusal to turn over basic evidence such as the damaged patrol car was “appalling.” After discovering more and more evidence of the county’s wrongdoing, they settled for $414,000.

This happened in 2014 and Smith is still feeling the pain. He says he will always have soreness in his neck and back, but he is glad he won the suit and he hopes the incident is a wake-up call to police. (Good luck on that…)

The suspect in the stolen car was never caught and the case was listed as a hit and run, according to Channel 2.

We’re kinda surprised Smith only got $414,000. Do you think that’s a fair settlement? Tell us!