Long Beach City Council Authorizes $1.5M Settlement In Lawsuit Against City, Police Department, Officers

LONG BEACH, NY. — The Long Beach City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night authorizing the city's corporation counsel to settle a lawsuit brought against the city by Ricky-Joshua Benny for $1.5 million.

As part of the resolution, the city will pay between $240,000 and $270,000, City Manager Dan Creighton said Tuesday night. Also named as defendants in the suit were the Long Beach Police Department, LBPD officers Joseph Wiemann and Rocco Walsh, and 10 additional officers named in the suit as John Does.

The settlement resolution stems from a suit Benny filed in 2020, in which Benny sought more than $5 million each for eight separate counts, alleging that he had been the victim of racial discrimination, unlawful treatment due to his race, false arrest, malicious prosecution, excessive use of force, fabrication of evidence and abuse of process, according to court documents. He also sought punitive damages against the defendants of more than $10 million, the suit said.

In his civil complaint, Benny claimed that Long Beach police officers had body slammed him from behind while he was recording officers who had verbally antagonized, body slammed and arrested his friend just after 3 a.m. on Dec. 8, 2018. According to Benny’s complaint, he was knocked unconscious during the incident, and subsequently charged with crimes including resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration and refusing to move on.

In a Jul. 10, 2020 letter, city attorney Howard Miller wrote that the legal action against the city should be dismissed on the grounds that Benny’s complaint contained “no well-pled facts that the City had a custom and policy of violating constitutional rights in connection with arrests.” Miller also wrote in that letter that the action against officers should be dismissed on qualified immunity grounds, claiming that Benny had disobeyed orders from police on the morning of Dec. 8, 2018.

Benny received, “a clear and specific final warning to disperse, which he disobeyed. Under Second Circuit precedent, the individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiff’s false arrest claim,” Miller wrote.

In November 2025, the parties mutually requested that the suit be sent to mediation.

Five years and more than 100 court filings after its initial filing, the City Council approved a resolution authorizing the corporation counsel to settle the suit Tuesday night. At the meeting, City Manager Dan Creighton said that the city would not be paying the full $1.5 million.

“The item authorizes the city going into a settlement agreement with Ricky-Joshua Benny for the amount of $1.5 million, of which approximately $240,000 to $270,000 will be paid by the city. The balance will be paid by the insurance company,” Creighton said.

“We’ve been briefed on it by the corporation counsel, and I have confidence in his judgments on it, and what happened. Obviously we can’t discuss it here, but we’re in good hands with this decision, I believe,” City Council president Brendan Finn said.

At Tuesday night's meeting, one public commenter called what transpired leading to the lawsuit, “a horrific situation.”

“It was, to me, a horrific situation, an unfortunate situation that took place in our city, and I’m happy if he and his family is in agreement with it,” the commenter said. “I pray that something like this never happen again to anyone in our city, and we care for everyone so we don’t have to make settlements like this, because of situations that happened like this, to one of the residents of Long Beach. So, thank you for settling, and it’s ok with the family, but unfortunately it’s a horrible situation.”

In a Wednesday afternoon conversation, Benny’s attorney Fred Brewington said that it was his belief that the parties involved were working out the logistics of a settlement, but said that he could not comment further.

“I really can’t speak about the terms or the status of the settlement,” Brewington said. “It’s my understanding that the council approved the settlement of this matter last night, and the parties are working through the logistics of that.”

Thursday morning, city officials confirmed that Walsh and Wiemann were still with the Long Beach Police Department. When reached for comment Thursday, defense attorney Richard Finkel declined to comment on the proceedings.

When asked how Benny and his family were feeling as the suit neared a potential resolution, Brewington said Benny remained hopeful for a just conclusion to the legal proceedings.

“Mr. Benny has been concerned about this since this incident. He remains hopeful that it will come to a conclusion that will be just and fair,” Brewington told Patch.