Columbus man awarded over $545,000 by city in wrongful arrest case

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – The city of Columbus approved a payout of over $545,000 in taxpayer dollars for a wrongful arrest charge against two police officers.

City Council voted 8-0 last Monday to pay Terry Scott Caskey $545,210.95 for attorney fees and an interest assessment after a U.S. District Court determined he was wrongfully imprisoned for five days in 2018.

In November 2018, Columbus police officers Nathan Fenton and Charles R. Harshbarger attempted to stop a vehicle for minor misdemeanor traffic violations, according to court documents. The officers also alleged the car fled when they attempted to pull it over, resulting in reckless driving charges.

Court documents state that when officers looked up the blue Nissan Altima, they saw it was registered to Caskey, who they arrested on Nov. 22, 2018. He was jailed for five days. Caskey’s roommate admitted to driving the vehicle after Caskey was released, court documents said, and the case was dismissed for insufficient evidence in April 2019.

In November 2023, a jury awarded Caskey $350,000 after determining he was wrongfully arrested.

Caskey’s request to repay his attorney’s fees was granted on June 4. According to the Ohio Southern District Court, Caskey was billed for 933.3 hours of legal services between two lawyers, amounting to $430,429.70 in total costs. The charge was then calculated for interest rates, bringing the total amount to be awarded to Caskey to $545,210.95.

“This (charge) is the result of the application for attorney’s fees,” Solicitor General Richard Coglianese said to City Council. “As council knows well, a lot of times when we come and settle cases, we talk about the expense of attorney’s fees in trying a case. The judge reviewed the fees, reviewed everything else and decided that that was an appropriate reward.”

This is not the first time Columbus has paid legal settlements on behalf of Columbus police. NBC4 reported Columbus paid $1.7 million for wrongful death lawsuits in April 2023 and over $200,000 for a discrimination case in June 2023. In June of this year, City Council approved a $50,000 settlement for excessive force during the city’s 2020 George Floyd protests.

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