Atlanta Hawks baller Thabo Sefolosha has settled his lawsuit against New York City, stemming from a 2015 arrest outside of a popular nightclub.
In April 2015, Sefolosha got into an altercation with NYPD outside of 1Oak in Manhattan. According to reports, officials instructed everyone to vacate the area after another NBA baller, Chris Copeland, had been stabbed. However, prosecutors argued that Sefolosha failed to comply, forcing five NYPD officers to use necessary force to arrest him. The subsequent police interaction left the baller with a broken leg and ligament damage to his ankle that ended his NBA season. Sefolosha, and fellow former Atlanta Hawks big man Pero Antic, were arrested, but later acquitted of all criminal charges.
Sefolosha sued the city, citing police brutality and claimed the officers arrested him without real reason. In the suit, he admitted to calling one of the officers “a midget” just before he was slammed on the ground and arrested. He said the officers “attacked and jumped” on him while another beat him with a baton during the arrest. As a result, Sefolosha was awarded $4 million in a settlement with the city.
“This settlement is not a concession that Mr. Sefolosha was blameless in this matter and there was no admission of liability by the defendants,” the city Law Department said in a statement. However, it said “in light of the gravity of his injuries, the potential impact on his career as a professional athlete and the challenge for a jury in sorting out the facts in this incident, the resolution of the case was in the best interests of the city.”
Antic also filed a civil suit. His case is still pending.
