*The Texas mother who was violently arrested in 2016 by a police officer after reporting her child in danger, has been awarded $150,000 after a lengthy legal battle with the city.
Here’s the backstory…we reported previously that Jacqueline Craig was violently arrested in 2016 after she called the police on her neighbor who choked her son for littering. The responding officer arrested her and blamed the boy for provoking the man’s response.
A family member, Porsha Craver, recorded the entire incident and posted it on Facebook. In the footage, Jacqueline tells the responding officer, “My daughter and son came home, saying that this man grabbed him and choked him. I came around here and asked him. I said, ‘Why did you put your hands on my son?’ He said, ‘Oh, he threw some paper and I told him to pick it up.’ He said he defied him and that’s why he did it…you don’t have the right to choke somebody’s son. My son is 7 years old, you don’t have the right to grab him and choke him.”
The officer did not question the man. Instead, he told Craig: “Why don’t you teach your son not to litter?”
OTHER NEWS: TX Cop Suspended for Arrest of Mother & Daughter Who Called Police on Neighbor
Craig replied: “He can’t prove to me that he did or didn’t, but it doesn’t matter. That doesn’t give him the right to put his hands on him.”
“Why not?” the cop asked.
Craig’s daughter stepped in between the two to prevent her mom from going off, and that’s when the officer lost it. The cop pushes the daughter away and pins the mother down on the ground. He then takes out his Taser and points it toward Craig and her daughter before handcuffing them both and taking them into custody.
Craig’s arrest went viral with many calling for the arresting officer, William Martin, and former Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald to be fired. Craig took legal action, accusing Martin of using excessive force. The lawsuit also called out lawmakers in Fort Worth for trying to protect the officers.
Following the arrest, all charges against Craig and her daughter were reportedly dropped. Fitzgerald was fired as police chief in May 2019 while Martin received a 10-day suspension.
After a lengthy legal battle, Fort Worth city officials reached a settlement with Craig on Friday and awarded her $150,000, NBC News reports. However, the city council must give final approval, a process that will take place in October.
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