Albuquerque settles civil suit with undercover officer shot by own lieutenant for $6.5M

The city of Albuquerque has settled a federal civil lawsuit involving an undercover Albuquerque police detective who was shot by his own lieutenant in what the department called a botched drug bust in Jan. 2015 for $6.5 million.

The suit was originally filed last August. A U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge said Wednesday morning she had received notice of the settlement involving undercover officer Jacob Grant and his lieutenant, Greg Brachle, according to court records.

The city will pay Grant $6.5 million and cover his medical expenses for the rest of his life. The city says it will also give Grant a medical retirement through PERA, though that was not a stipulation of the settlement.

Records show closing documents in the civil suit will have to be filed within 30 days.

Former-lieutenant Brachle shot Grant nine times in Jan. 2015 while Grant was working an undercover drug operation outside a McDonald’s on Central near Tramway.

The lawsuit includes the moments he says Brachle kept shooting as Grant says he was crawling away and as he asked the shooting to stop. Brachle also allegedly missed a briefing before the operation – allegations Brachle denied.

Grant suffered “catastrophic injuries,” according to the suit, and lost nearly 80 percent of his blood.

The suit says Brachle and Grant had a two-year working relationship and that Grant was visible the day of the operation and at the time of the shooting, saying he was not wearing anything to cover his body or face.

It says Brachle shot at Grant twice, then repositioned himself and emptied the clip. Grant’s lawsuit says Brachle, a firearms instructor, violated basic firearms safety rules that day – using lethal force in a very public place and shooting before truly knowing the target.

The case also claimed Brachle had a history of erratic, problematic, or otherwise unpredictable or questionable behavior and had been disciplined before.

CITY, GRANT FAMILY ISSUE STATEMENTS

“This settlement will resolve all claims under workers’ compensation and any other potential claims against the City,” Albuquerque City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said in a statement.

Hernandez wrote that the medical retirement reward the city included in the settlement “is an important part of ensuring Jacob and his family are taken care of going forward.”

Mayor Berry and APD Chief Gorden Eden held an afternoon news conference to address the settlement.

“I’m happy that at least from a financial standpoint his family is taken care of,” Mayor Richard Berry said in an afternoon news conference. “But I’ll tell you – as a mayor, we need to take a hard look at this situation. We owe it to our officers and community to find out what happened and why it happened.”

Eden wept at an afternoon news conference when he discussed the settlement and aftermath of the shooting.

“My wife and I have become very close to them,” he said. “I remember several days after they had taken Jacob off the ventilator and was breathing on his own – I can remember verbatim every single conversation I’ve had with him.

Gabaldon issued a statement from Grant and his family Wednesday afternoon:

“My family and I wish to express our profound gratitude to the community, my fellow APD police officers, Chief Eden, and to my medical staff for supporting us during this very painful and difficult time. Your prayers, thoughts, encouragement and financial support came to us during our deepest and darkest moments. Rather than become bitter, we feel blessed to be part of such a generous and wonderful community.

The City recently made an offer to settle my case, and my family and I have decided to accept this offer. This lawsuit has been very stressful on my family, and we believe it is much better to devote our time and energy to raising our children and working on my recovery. In bringing this matter to a close, my family, which includes the community and APD, can now move forward and concentrate on our future instead of our past.

While we cannot change or undo what has occurred, we are hopeful that this incident will be positively used to improve law enforcement training, practices, policies, procedures, accountability, and community relations.

The funds that were generously donated to us will be used to help other injured police officers, needful fellow citizens, and to various charities. We will also be donating my remaining injury, sick, and vacation leave time to other City employees so that they too can take care of their family, medical, injury, or other needs.

Once again, we cannot express how much your tremendous kindness and overwhelming support has meant to us.

With sincere gratitude and respect to all,

The Grant Family.”

APD PUTS NEW UNDERCOVER POLICIES IN PLACE AFTER SHOOTING

APD spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said Wednesday afternoon that there have been many changes made to undercover and department-wide policies since the shooting.

She said all narcotics investigations were suspended for 30 days after the shooting so APD could review and improve its policies.

She said the following changes have since been made and said the department “will constantly review all policies and procedures.”

• Improved Communication
• Increased oversight of Officer’s training and investigations
• Improved procedures and planning for operations
• Leadership has changed over that unit
• New system to track all training
• State of the art training has been provided and further training has been requested
• Outside agency came in and gave ‘Avoiding Blue on Blue’ training
• New take down tactics
• New and upgraded equipment to ensure better communication and safety
• New threat assessment matrix
• New case management and case tracking system
• MANDATORY attendance at briefings and briefings are required prior to each operation.

“We are grateful that this matter has produced change that provides a better and safer environment for officers, and for the community,” Gabaldon said in regards to the changes.

OTHER MOVEMENT IN THE CASE

The city had been seeking to seal some video and other evidence in the case. Gabaldon responded that the video and records should not be sealed, though he asked the identities of undercover officers be protected.

But since the suit has been settled, the city said at an afternoon news conference that video from that day would be released in coming days.

Brachle retired from the department March 7 – two weeks after the Civilian Police Oversight Agency recommended he be fired from the department.

But Wednesday, Chief Eden and Mayor Berry told KOB an APD internal affairs investigation into Brachle is ongoing despite his retirement.

“I’ll begin to do an analysis myself,” Berry said. “We will complete the process despite the fact Lt. Brachle has retired from the department.”

The city has paid out more than $34 million in excessive force and wrongful death settlements since 2010 when this figure is included.

Originally published for KOB.com