Metro Police settle lawsuit stemming from bar fight

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2002 | 9:43 a.m.

Metro Police decided Wednesday to pay two tourists $900,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit alleging that police wrongly charged the men with a felony and had them falsely arrested after a fight at a bar with three off-duty cops in 1997.

Taxpayers may foot the bill for the settlement: Metro officials on Monday will ask city and county officials to approve the use of taxpayer money to settle the federal lawsuit filed in 1999 by cousins Juan Berry of Minnesota and James Suggs of Kentucky.

Berry's lawsuit accused Metro officers of jailing them on fabricated charges in retaliation for a fight May 23, 1997, with several off-duty officers at the Drink nightclub.

Berry, 31, and Suggs, 32, were vacationing in Las Vegas and went to the club, which has since closed. Four SWAT officers and two beat cops, all off duty, were also there.

SWAT, which stands for Special Weapons and Tactics, is an elite police corps called upon to deal with some of the department's most dangerous situations. According to police reports and statements, some in the group out dancing that night were drinking. The incident with Berry and Suggs occurred while the groups were near each other on the dance floor.

Police reports say around 1:30 a.m., Renee Madrid, the girlfriend of SWAT officer Jerry "Bob" Montes, accidentally spilled beer on Berry's shorts on a crowded dance floor. Madrid told police the 6-foot-tall Berry responded by standing over her and pouring beer over her head.

Madrid said Berry hit her more than once in the face with a beer bottle.

A nightclub security officer said he saw a bottle in Berry's hand, but only saw his beer splash on Montes.

Berry's attorney, Donald Campbell, said his client admitted to being in a fight, but denied using a bottle.

Officers who responded to break up the bar brawl refused to arrest Berry, citing a lack of evidence. One of the alleged victims, a SWAT officer, refused to give a voluntary statement the night of the fight.

But several weeks later police filed charges against Berry for battery with a deadly weapon. Those charges were dropped, but Billy Rogers, then a detective in the department's administrative detail, re-entered Berry's name in a database which could have had him arrested again on the same charges.