Suffolk County, Lazo Family Settle Police Custody Death Case For $20M

BAY SHORE, NY — Suffolk County will pay $20 million to the family of a Bay Shore man who died after he was beaten by Suffolk police following a 2008 traffic stop.

"At this particular time we think the settlement is a fair settlement, dollar-wise, but nothing is going to replace the life of Kenny Lazo," attorney Frederick Brewington told Patch.

The family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the county and its police department in 2009, arguing the police failed to seek medical treatment for Lazo after the 24-year-old was beaten.

After a three-week trial, the jury awarded the family $35 million, including $13.5 million in compensatory damages and $21.5 million in punitive damages. And its members felt so strongly about the case that they asked the judge if they could put a statement into the record. The judge said, "Your verdict is your statement."

The jury members held a news conference outside afterward. "Upon review of the evidence, we, the jury, feel strongly that the policies and practices of the Suffolk County Police Dept. should be better enforced to protect and serve the community," their statement said. "The failure to properly train, retrain and/or discipline officers directly led to this unfortunate situation. Our hope is that actionable change comes from this verdict."

The county filed an appeal on the grounds that the evidence did not justify the verdict.

"Their post trial motion was extremely long and they tried to address a number of issues, but we just said the jury's verdict in this case spoke clearly about the wrongdoing that took place and the systemic failures of SC and the SCPD," Brewington said.

On April 12, 2008, Lazo was arrested by police following a traffic stop near Southern State Parkway in Bay Shore. He had been under surveillance because of suspected drug dealing, police said.

Attorneys for the county claimed that Lazo, who was 5-foot-6 and weighed 250 pounds, suffered a heart attack after he resisted police attempts to subdue him.

The family claimed that the officers, against whom the county had dozens of police misconduct complaints on file, beat Lazo with heavy flashlights and their fists.

According to the Suffolk County medical examiner, he died from cardiac arrest "following exertion associated with prolonged physical altercation from multiple blunt impacts," Newsday reported.