The city of Pittsburgh has settled a civil rights lawsuit with a man who was beaten by former Pittsburgh police officer Stephen Matakovich in 2015.
The incident was captured on video cameras at Heinz Field during the high school football championships at the stadium.
Matakovich was sentenced to 27 months in prison by a federal judge for violating Gabriel Despres’ rights.
And now Despres has won his civil suit.
“The settlement, from a monetary perspective, is good,” Despres’ attorney Alec Wright said.
“What’s better in this case was that Stephen Matakovich was held accountable, that the city of Pittsburgh was held accountable.”
Video footage of the incident shows Matakovich shoving then 19-year-old Despres then repeatedly slapping and punching the teen’s head after he left and then attempted to reenter Heinz Field.
Despres pleaded guilty to public drunkenness and trespassing in connection with that incident as Matakovich serves his 27 month sentence in federal prison.
“I think that Steve Matakovich was held responsible by the criminal justice system for what he did,” Margaret Coleman, an attorney for Despres, said.
“This settlement really represents the city being held responsible for allowing Matakovich to act in the way that he did.”
According to the settlement agreement, Pittsburgh will pay Despres $77,500 and security company Landmark will pay $20,000.
The lawsuit claims a Landmark security guard falsely detained Despres and acted in concert with Matakovich to violate Despres’ rights.
It also alleges that Matakovich had a history of excessive force dating back to over 20 years ago, when he first began working as a police officer.
Watch footage of the incident above.
