Richmond police officers settle federal lawsuit tied to misconduct claims during 2020 protest

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Two Richmond police officers settled a federal lawsuit with two women who claim the officers fired a chemical irritant at them through an open car window during a 2020 protest over police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

Officers Christopher Brown and Mark Janowski were accused of using the chemical irritant O.C. fogger on three people who were stopped in a car at a red light at a Richmond intersection in late May 2020 and charged with misdemeanor counts of assault and battery.

The charges were ultimately dropped in 2022 after the officers took part in the Virginia Center for Restorative Justice program and completed community service, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin told 8News after the charges were dismissed.

Brown and Janowski also met and exchanged apologies with one of the three people, McEachin said.

The other two, however, did not meet with them and sued Brown, Janowski and the city in federal court for $2 million and punitive damages, alleging violations of their constitutional rights, battery, assault, gross negligence and willful and wanton conduct.

A federal judge dismissed the claims made against the city, partly based on sovereign immunity protections, but allowed the case against Brown and Janowski to move forward. In court filings, Brown and Janowski denied any wrongdoing and liability.

But the civil lawsuit never made it to trial as the sides reached a settlement with undisclosed terms, per a June 7 court filing.

“The Richmond Police Department respects the legal process that has concluded,” James Mercante, the department’s acting public affairs director, wrote in an email. “Due to the fact the terms of this settlement are confidential, we are unable to comment on the case, except to confirm the two individuals are still employed as officers of the Richmond Police Department.”

The attorney for the women did not share a statement or details of the settlement terms with 8News and the attorney for Brown and Janowski did not respond to emails seeking comment. The attorney with Richmond’s City Attorney’s Office who defended the city in the civil case also did not respond to a request for comment.

The police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky led to protests over police brutality and racism across the U.S. and in other countries in the summer of 2020.

It sparked civil unrest and clashes between protesters and law enforcement in Richmond, where a curfew was imposed, tear gas was used on peaceful protesters and some businesses were damaged.

Several high-profile cases led the city to settle police misconduct lawsuits – a total now more than $1 million – and required the city’s police department to retract and co r rect a tweet and make its policies more publicly available .

While the lawsuit was dismissed with the settlement, court documents filed before revealed details about each side’s account.

In court documents filed in the criminal case, city prosecutors claimed the three people in the car, females ages 17 to 19 at the time, were at a red light in the early morning hours of May 31, 2020, when they began shouting obscenities at a group of officers in the area.

City prosecutors, who said body-camera video was reviewed in the case, wrote in a court filing that, “As the victims were shouting at the police, one officer in the group of officers shouted to the victims, ‘Why don’t you get out of the car?’ Another officer in the group then said, ‘Spray ‘em, it doesn’t matter, f— it, spray ‘em.’ At that moment, Brown and Janowski left the sidewalk, walked across two travel lanes and approached the passenger side of the victims’ vehicle.”

Janowski, prosecutors claimed in filings, then sprayed O.C. fogger into the open window “at the heads and faces of the victims,” despite being trained not to do so. Prosecutors alleged Brown followed up and did the same as Janowski.

“The fog immediately filled the vehicle, and the Girls all began to cough and experienced severe burning of their eyes, nose, throat, and skin,” the federal civil lawsuit claims, adding that the effects “lasted for days” and made showering painful.

In court filings, Brown and Janowski denied the civil lawsuit’s claims that the other officers encouraged them to “gas” the teens and that Janowski fired O.C. fogger into the car.

The two women were invited to meet with Brown and Janowski to get an apology but “did not attend out of fear and discomfort,” their lawsuit claimed. In court filings, Brown and Janowski admit the women were invited to speak with them but did not, denying the other allegations.

“Plaintiffs specifically were not comfortable that Defendants Janowski and Brown would have their charges dismissed and could potentially remain City of Richmond police officers,” the lawsuit said.

Brown and Janowski denied all accusations of wrongdoing, including claims they caused the women to suffer “a Constitutional violation or compensable injury.”

“Plaintiffs were not subjected to unlawful use of force or any other constitutional violation as alleged in the Complaint or in any other fashion,” their court filings read. “Rather, Defendants’ actions, if any, were supported by probable cause and/or reasonable suspicion and were objectively reasonable.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRIC ABC 8News.