"Minor Mistake" by Police Leaves Man Paralyzed and Police Liable

With both recent settlements, the city's attorneys have said "minor mistakes" by police might have exposed the city to major financial liability in court, making settlement a preferable option over going to trial.

In his 2009 lawsuit, Bobo - at the time 32, on parole for drug sales with two felony warrants out for his arrest - said he was walking late at night on Ninth Street when an officer spotted him and ordered him to stop.

Bobo took off running through yards and over fences, according to court papers, and tried to hide in the backyard of a house 1500 block of Ninth Street. Bobo climbed onto the railing of a boat parked in the driveway and tried to get on the roof, he said.

Officers grabbed him and shot him with stun guns, causing him to fall about 8 feet to the ground, before commanding a police dog to bite him, despite yelling that he could not move, Bobo alleged.

He landed on his head and broke two vertebrae, rendering him quadriplegic, he claimed in court papers.