Minneapolis, Minnesota: Police Gang Strike Force accused of extortion.

More than 100 people have filed claims in a $3 million settlement of a federal lawsuit involving the Metro Gang Strike Force, an attorney said today.

Zelaido Rivera Garcia, who sued on behalf of the class, claimed he went to the Minneapolis impound lot in 2008 to pick up his car and encountered Metro Gang Strike Force officers. Officers took his wallet and, when they returned it, $100 was missing.

That $100, and the ordeals of others whose money was seized by strike force officers, mushroomed to a $3 million settlement of a federal lawsuit announced in August.

The lawsuit claimed that strike force members "engaged in a pattern and practice of using their apparent authority as police officers to extort cash and property ... particularly from those concerned about their immigration status who would naturally perceive that they had no ability to assert legal rights."

Eligible to file claims: Anyone who was "stopped, questioned, arrested,
charged, frisked, detained or searched ... or whose dwelling was searched ... by a peace officer or peace officers serving on or assisting the (strike force) ... in an incident where property was taken ... without a receipt or inventory itemization, or ... without notification to the property owner of his or her right to contest the forfeiture," according to the settlement order and final judgment.

The civil settlement is "absolutely not" an admission of guilt, said Kori Land, an attorney representing the strike force's advisory board, in August.


Link:
http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_16966001?source=rss&nclick_check=1