[B]URLINGTON — The city of Winooski will pay $82,500 to resolve a lawsuit brought on behalf of a man wounded in a police shooting in 2013, court records show.
Former Winooski police officer Jason Nokes shot Isaac Sage in the thigh in April 2013 after a confrontation in which Nokes and another officer were trying to serve Sage with a no-trespass order.
Nokes later pleaded no contest to reckless endangerment.
During the episode Sage was “in the midst of a serious mental health crisis,” according to the lawsuit. When Nokes tried to handcuff Sage, Sage struck him in the face, investigators found.
The other officer present, Chris MacHavern, told state police investigators that he “never considered using his firearm during this incident because, to him, it had not reached the point where the use of deadly force was warranted,” according to the lawsuit.
In addition to the reckless endangerment charge, Nokes pleaded no contest to making false statements to law enforcement. He was given a 12- to 24-month suspended jail sentence in 2014 and two years of probation. Those charges cost Nokes his job and are likely to prevent him from working in law enforcement again.
Sage was found incompetent to stand trial on a charge of aggravated assault on a police officer.
Doris Sage, Isaac Sage’s mother and guardian, sued Nokes and the city of Winooski in federal court in 2016, arguing the shooting violated his constitutional rights, caused intentional emotional distress as the result of negligence, and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal anti-discrimination laws.
The judge dismissed the negligence claim, citing Winooski’s sovereign immunity. The Justice Department, and then-U.S. Attorney Eric Miller, made a legal filing in support of the ADA claims.
“It’s no small thing that cops have to accommodate people in the street who are acting oddly because of psych issues,” said Robert Appel, the Sage family’s lawyer. “To me that’s a big deal.”
As part of the settlement, Nokes was removed as a defendant from the lawsuit, and both remaining parties agreed to dismiss the lawsuit’s claims with prejudice, meaning they can’t be brought again.
The Vermont League of Cities and Towns, which provides liability insurance to Winooski, will make the $82,500 payment on the city’s behalf. VLCT will also pay the cost of a mediator used to reach the settlement.
The settlement states that it is a “compromise to avoid litigation,” and neither side is making any admissions related to the incident.
Appel said his clients chose to settle to gain closure and avoid a trial process that could have dragged on for another year or more with appeals.
“It’s difficult to hold cops to account,” Appel said, adding that Nokes is the only officer he was aware of in Vermont who was charged with a crime for shooting someone.
“At some point you’ve got to move on,” Appel said.
