Aurora to pay $325,000 over traffic stops after bank robbery
Attorney David Lane, who represented the 14 plaintiffs, says the settlement was reached Thursday.
Police lights on the 16th Street Mall. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Aurora — The city of Aurora has agreed to pay $325,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by motorists who were detained at an intersection while police tried to find a man who robbed a nearby bank.
Attorney David Lane, who represented the 14 plaintiffs, says the settlement was reached Thursday. They sued the city for unlawful search and seizure after the June 2012 traffic stop. Some motorists were approached at gunpoint by police after the robbery, handcuffed and made to wait for two hours while the scene was cleared.
Stacks of money stolen from the bank contained a GPS tracking device that led police to the intersection, but officers couldn’t immediately pinpoint its location among the vehicles. Nearly 30 people were ordered out of their cars, and police found a suspect in one of the vehicles.