The homeless man kept telling people he was God which led to somebody calling police leading to the man running off when he saw the arriving police officer.
The California cop gave chase but it was not much of a chase considering the homeless man sat down on a median in the middle of the street, an obvious sign of surrender to everybody watching except the cop.
Vallejo police officer Spencer Muniz-Bottomley ran up and tackled the man, punching him several times, then beating him with his flashlight.
At one point, he reached for his gun when people began protesting but then continued beating the man with the flashlight.
“I am God!” Dejuan Hall kept yelling as more cops arrived.
The incident took place in March 2017 but it was only last week that the local media learned the city of Vallejo had settled with the man the prior year for $75,000.
Unlike most settlements, Hall did not even have to follow his notice of claim with an actual lawsuit.
However, Hall remains in jail and it’s not clear why.
According to the Times-Herald:
Most excessive force claims filed against the city are usually denied, which leads the claimant to file a lawsuit. However, in the Hall case city officials decided to settle the case before it advanced to a lawsuit.
“This usually indicates the city realizes there is a significant liability,” (Hall’s attorney) Haddad said by phone last week.
Vallejo City Attorney Claudia Quintana didn’t return a request for comment on the reason why the city settled with Hall.
Despite the settlement, Hall is in county jail and facing a trial in September stemming from the 2017 incident, his criminal attorney Amy Morton said.
Hall’s resisting arrest and trespassing charges from the March 2017 incident have been merged with other charges, Solano County Superior Court records show. He faces charges of DUI, driving without a license, petty theft, and solicitation of a lewd act, among others.
Hall’s attorney said his client is in custody because he has nowhere else to go so it’s not clear if he ever received a penny from his settlement because those are not charges that would be denied bond.
Muniz-Bottomley, who was named in several lawsuits while he worked for the Vallejo Police Department is no longer employed there and there is no record of him working anywhere else.
