Fremont County pays $2.4 million to woman wrongly arrested while naked

Fremont County paid $2.4 million last week to a woman who was wrongly arrested while naked and in her own apartment, then locked into a restraint chair and shocked with a Taser.

A jury last year awarded the woman, Carolyn O’Neal, $3.6 million after she sued the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office over the 2014 incident, but a federal judge later reduced that amount to about $2.1 million, prompting both sides to appeal.

The county later agreed to drop its appeal and settle with O’Neal for $2.4 million, her attorney, David Lane, said Sunday.

“This was an outrageous case,” he said. “Law enforcement officers who believed they were above the law got smacked down hard by a jury. And unfortunately this costs the taxpayers of Fremont County a lot of money. But I hope it inspires the citizenry to demand accountability from law enforcement — otherwise it’s coming out of their pockets.”

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2020/12/20/carolyn-oneal-naked-arrest-fremont-county-sheriff-lawsuit/