The City of Cincinnati apologized and settled with a realtor and his client who were briefly held at gunpoint and questioned while viewing a home last November.
The realtor, Jerry Isham, and his client, Anthony Edwards, were viewing a home for sale on Morado Drive on Nov. 17 in West Price Hill.
According to the federal lawsuit the pair filed this week, a retired police officer, Thomas Branigan, called 911 and reported “two black males forced the front door open.”
Branigan told the dispatcher the house is for sale, but “it’s not an open house today… They pulled on the front door and forced it open.”
Police ordered the men out of the house at ɡᴜпρᴏɪпт and handcuffed both of them. For several minutes Edwards and one of the officers heatedly discussed how гɑᴄᴇ may have contributed to what was happening.
After about five minutes, an officer apologized for the misunderstanding and the men were free to go.
“The city regrets this extremely unfortunate and unnecessary situation,” Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney said in a statement Thursday. “Mr. Isham and Mr. Edwards did nothing wrong.”
Duhaney said the city agreed to pay the men $151,000 as part of a settlement. He said “voluntary training” with the board of realtors would be made available.
“We are in the process of implementing implicit bias training for all city employees,” Duhaney said. “We sincerely apologize.”
Cincinnati’s police union president Dan Hils told The Enquirer he believes the officers followed protocol and procedure.
“I’m afraid this sets a precedent that if you have an encounter with police and make it public, then you’ll be offered a higher settlement,” Hils said.
Hils said he has been told Isham and Edwards were offered a lower settlement before their story was publicized.
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