Spokane to pay $500,000 to fiancee of man killed by police in 2022
The city of Spokane has agreed to pay $500,000 to the fiancée of Robert Bradley, a man shot and killed in 2022 by Spokane police, to settle a wrongful death claim.
The Spokane City Council voted 5-2 to approve the settlement. Councilman Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart voted in opposition.
Officers shot Bradley at his home in September 2022 when they say he pulled a handgun on them as they were trying to serve a court order related to a dispute with a neighbor.
Bradley’s family sued the officers and the city of Spokane last year, alleging the 41-year-old was unloading guns and camping gear from his van after a camping trip when police ambushed him, shooting him within seconds of approaching the van parked at the family’s home in Hillyard. Bradley was hard of hearing, and the plaintiffs argue that he was not given time or sufficient warning to process that police were on the scene before officers opened fire.
Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell ruled in March that Cpl. Chris Johnson and Det. Trevor Walker fired in self-defense, and he declined to file charges against them.
Sarah McLaughlin, Bradley’s fiancée, agreed to dismiss her claims against the city for $500,000, assistant city attorney Lynden Smithson told the City Council.
This agreement will not end the city’s legal battles over Bradley’s death, however, as his children have not accepted a settlement agreement, according to their attorney Rondi Thorp. That suit is currently in federal court with a trial scheduled for Nov. 12.
The city in October approved an additional $150,000 to fight the lawsuit brought by Bradley’s family, bringing total legal defense costs with a Seattle-based law firm to $400,000.
The legal costs defending against wrongful death suits can rise into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The city spent $600,000 in legal fees fighting the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the estate of David Novak, another man killed by law enforcement. Notably, Thorp also represented the Novak family.
The city ultimately settled the Novak lawsuit for $4 million.