The Little Rock Board of Directors on Tuesday voted to authorize a settlement with the family of James Hartsfield, a 28-year-old Little Rock man who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2017.
The resolution was adopted without discussion as part of the board's consent agenda, to which it was a late addition.
The settlement agreement indicated Hartsfield's family will receive $85,000 from Little Rock and a local government group.
The measure said the city will pay $8,500 as a result of its participation in the Arkansas Municipal League's legal defense program, which acts as an insurance pool for participating municipalities.
When reached through email Tuesday evening, the Municipal League's general counsel John Wilkerson confirmed that the local government group would pay the estate $76,500.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 7, 2017, then-officer Brittany Gunn was working off-duty as security outside a bar called Local Union at the Prospect Building, at 1501 N. University Ave., when Hartsfield pulled up in a Mercedes Benz, apparently to pick up a patron. Hartsfield worked as a part-time Lyft driver.
After the man got into Hartsfield's vehicle, Gunn saw what appeared to be Hartsfield drinking an alcoholic beverage, authorities said later.
Gunn told Hartsfield to stop and to exit the vehicle, police said. A struggle ensued, with Gunn assisted by another officer. Gunn ultimately shot Hartsfield while both were inside the car, and she was ejected when the vehicle crashed through a wall onto North University Avenue.
Police said Hartsfield was pronounced dead at the scene. Gunn was hospitalized and released.
Gunn, who is now a lieutenant, was cleared by the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office of criminal wrongdoing.
A 2019 lawsuit filed in federal court by Hartsfield's sister, Lauren Hartsfield, on behalf of his estate claimed Gunn violated Hartsfield's rights during the encounter.
The lawsuit said Hartsfield and Gunn knew each other while attending the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and further said, citing "information and belief," that at some point before the shooting Gunn "had developed romantic feelings" for Hartsfield.
Those assertions later prompted a counterclaim of defamation that was filed by the city attorney's office, which argued that Gunn never attended school with Hartsfield nor met him before the incident. The judge overseeing the case ultimately dismissed the counterclaim, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported last year.
The lawsuit named Gunn, the city and Local Union LLC. Claims against the city in the complaint alleged a failure to train and a custom of excessive force or policy violations.
Hartsfield's family was represented by attorney Mike Laux.
An entry in the court docket filed Thursday said a settlement conference was held before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray in which the parties reached a final settlement agreement of all claims.
Little Rock and Gunn did not admit liability as a result of the agreement, which "is entered into for the sole purpose of settlement and compromise," according to the settlement terms.
A separate resolution that the board approved during the same meeting gave the OK to settle litigation filed in 2020 by the Optimist Club of Rosedale against the city in circuit court.
Terms of the resolution reflected an agreement that the city will transfer revenue from a cell tower to the Optimist Club every month, among other agreements on the club's use of a banquet hall, kitchen and parking area.
The resolution also said the city would reimburse the Optimist Club for $6,650 in attorneys' fees.