BENTONVILLE -- A former Fayetteville High School football player will receive $100,000 for a settlement of the wrongful arrest involving the Centerton Police Department.
The Centerton City Council voted 5-1 to accept the settlement of the lawsuit at Wednesday's special meeting.
Brian Rabal, city attorney, said the parties met Monday and reached the tentative settlement. The council had to meet and vote to approve the settlement.
Rabal told the council the settlement was for $100,000 and the settlement ends all Terrance Rock's claims against the city.
Centerton Police arrested Rock at Fayetteville High School Nov. 15 in connection with residential burglary and theft of property, both felonies. He was released from the Benton County jail the next day on a $10,000 bond. Rock, who was a senior running back, helped lead Fayetteville to the Class 7A football title.
Centerton Police Chief Cody Harper later acknowledged officers wrongfully arrested Rock and apologized in a Nov. 18 news release. Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green dismissed the charges against Rock and sealed the case in early December.
Councilman Darren Warren was the lone vote against accepting the settlement. "I thought the amount was too high for what occurred," he said.
"It was an unfortunate event and we hope that Terrance can now move on with his life," Rabal said.
Rock's arrest came from a Sept. 25 incident in which a Centerton man claimed three teens stole items from his home, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police didn't interview Rock before they arrested him, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit contends thart Centerton police made little or no effort to make sure they were arresting the correct person and, according to the lawsuit, boasted that Rock's arrest was a high-profile one that would receive media attention because he was a star football player.
Officers handcuffed Rock and escorted him out of the school to a waiting police car in front of students, teachers, staff and administrators, resulting in extreme embarrassment, fear, emotional distress, physical and mental anguish, harm and hardship, according to the lawsuit.
Police ignored Rock's protests that he'd never been to Centerton and didn't know the teens accused of the break-in, according to the lawsuit. It wasn't until Rock's attorney, Lance Cox, and Benton County prosecutors investigated and confronted Centerton police with the identity of the person actually involved in the theft that they admitted they requested and obtained a warrant for the wrong person, according to the lawsuit. That individual clearly had a different name than Rock, according to the lawsuit.
Christopher Cummins, one of the officers involved, was fired 14 days after Rock's arrest.
In addition to Cummins, the lawsuit named Centerton, Harper, officer Patrick Stuart, and detectives Jeremiah Nicholson and Alex Wallace. They were named in both their individual and official capacities.
"I am thrilled we were able to resolve the case to Mr. Rock's satisfaction, so that he can now focus his attention on his college education and football career," Cox said. "As was stated in Mr. Rock's lawsuit, for him, this matter began when he was pulled from his classroom at Fayetteville High School, and wrongfully arrested by Centerton police officers, during school hours, and in front of his classmates, teachers, and administrators -- in connection with criminal offenses that were committed by other persons, in a town in which Mr. Rock had literally never stepped foot in his life."
Cox said the case started at Rock's high school and ended with Centerton effectively agreeing to pay for Rock's college education. "In that sense, justice truly was done in this case," Cox said.
Cox said he was grateful Benton County prosecutor Nathan Smith and Carrie Dobbs , deputy prosecutor, helped resolve the underlying arrest and the criminal case against Rock.
The lawsuit alleged gross negligence by the defendants for intentionally circumventing the prosecutor's office to obtain a warrant. The arrest affidavit wasn't sent to the prosecutor to be reviewed before Rock was arrested, according to the lawsuit.
It also claimed that officers weren't trained, educated or supervised properly and that the department had inadequate policies and procedures to make sure the correct person was being arrested.
Metro on 08/25/2017