Columbus City Council last night approved a 50 thousand dollar payment to a motorcyclist struck and severely injured by a Columbus police officer in August of 2008. The payment goes to Dean Stevens, who sued the city and Officer Debra Maxson after she drove through a red light with her emergency lights on and struck him at the intersection of Cleveland Avenue and Route 161. City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer says it started with a woman waving at Maxson to alert the officer about a hit-and-run motorist.
Council also approved paying 77 thousand dollars in interest related to the settlement of a lawsuit alleging the city sold the owner of a Canadian company a faulty police helicopter in 2009. The owner said the craft had 200 thousand dollars worth of mechanical problems. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled the city should pay 380 thousand dollars, and that was approved by Council earlier this year. Pfeiffer says this payment is for interest on the time between the purchase and the court's decision.