Sean Bell’s “Widow” To Receive 3.25 Million Settlement From NYC

Do any of you remember that case of a young man who went to strip club the day of his wedding, and who afterwards rammed his car several times into a police van? I posted about it several times here, here, here, , and here. What do you think would happen if I were to ram my car several times into a police van?

Sean Bell was shot dead for his thuggish behavior. To make a long story short, the officers were acquitted. But Bell’s so-called widow still sued. Now she’s getting 3.25 million dollars.

The city made the announcement yesterday in a statement.

“The city regrets the loss of life in this tragic case and we share our deepest condolences with the Bell family,” Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said. “The Sean Bell shooting highlighted the complexities our dedicated officers must face each day” and expressed the “hope that all the parties can find some measure of closure by this settlement.”

Paultre Bell, who legally took Sean’s last name after the slaying, called the settlement “fair.”

Bell and his two friends were celebrating his impending nuptials when they were shot by plainclothes and uniformed cops in a hail of more than 50 bullets outside a club.

Cops said they fired when Bell, who had been drinking, accelerated his car and hit one of the officers trying to keep him from leaving the scene.

After an extensive investigation, three detectives were indicted in March 2007. Two were charged with manslaughter, and the third with reckless endangerment.

In April 2008, all three cops were acquitted, triggering demands for a federal civil-rights investigation. The Justice Department dismissed the civil-rights claim in February, but the lawsuit, brought by his fiancée continued until yesterday.