Livingston to pay $600,000 to man in police assault claim, attorney says

The city of Livingston will pay $600,000 to a man who said he was assaulted by a police officer during a child-custody exchange in 2012, an attorney representing the city said Monday.

Dwight Larks will receive the money as part of a settlement, said Dale L. Allen Jr., a San Francisco-based attorney who represented the city of Livingston.

Larks, a real estate agent, said he was assaulted by Livingston police Officer Tyson Perry on May 21, 2012, as the police sergeant supervised a custody exchange between Larks and the mother of Larks’ 15-year-old daughter.

According to records of the incident, Perry handcuffed Larks before throwing him to the ground and shoving his face into the concrete porch at Larks’ home. A Merced County jury decided June 24 that Perry had acted outside the law in doing so.

Larks said he had dated a woman in 2002 who later married Perry and that the officer used the word “karma” before taking him into custody after the assault.

“It was a difficult case,” Allen said Monday. “The city and the principals thought it was necessary to settle the case in light of the conviction of Sgt. Perry. Going forward was problematic in light of Sgt. Perry’s appeal and the further cost the city would be saddled with in defending these allegations.”

The settlement was reached without any admission of fault from the city, Perry or Sgt. Michael Baker, another officer who responded to the scene, according to Allen. Baker now works outside the area.

Robert G. Eliason, Larks’ attorney, did not return requests for comment.

The settlement ends Larks’ civil case against the city, which was set to be heard in Merced County court this week. Larks sought compensation for his medical care, loss of wages and distress, as well as the “deprivation of civil rights,” according to the claim filed in Merced Superior Court.

Perry, 39, was sentenced Sept. 22 to serve three months in jail on assaulting the handcuffed Larks, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office. His employment with the city of Livingston also ended that day, Chief Ruben Chavez confirmed.

Perry served about six weeks in the Merced County jail, according to jail records. He was released in December. He faced a maximum possible sentence of three years in the county jail.

Judge David W. Moranda cited Perry’s lack of criminal history when he handed down the sentence in Merced Superior Court, authorities said.

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Livingston to pay $600,000 to man in police assault claim, attorney says."