RALEIGH, N.C. — An attorney for a North Carolina sheriff’s office said Thursday that the agency has agreed to a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit in which six families accused the department of a history of employing excessive force by officers who reportedly referred to themselves as the “‘KKK’ Deputies”
In November 2016, the families filed a lawsuit against four deputies, Sheriff Wayne Coats, and former Sheriff Larry Rollins. The family of John David Livingston, who was shot and killed by a Harnett County officer in 2015 after refusing to allow a warrantless search of his house, filed the complaint.
In court records, the sheriff’s office said that Livingston was inebriated when he snatched Kehagias’ stun gun, prompting the officer to fear for his life. A grand jury failed to indict the deputy, so he resigned.
The lawsuit included 43 claims against the defendants, who disputed there was a pattern of excessive force and claimed that other plaintiffs had provoked officers in similar ways on other occasions.
In a statement, Coats added, “This settlement is not in any way an admission of guilt to any of the deputies’ conduct.” “Despite the fact that I was not the sheriff at the time of the occurrences, I still support the guys involved and feel they acted appropriately.”