City settles lawsuit over pepper-spray incident

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, June 16, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

A woman who was allegedly pepper-sprayed by Henderson Police while handcuffed and then left without medical attention for so long that she has permanent eye damage, will receive $224,000 in a settlement approved Tuesday by the Henderson City Council.

The settlement ends the federal lawsuit Jody Higgins brought against the city and Officers Timothy Janda and Robert Blaskie, which alleged excessive use of force, among other accusations.

Janda and Blaskie were fired in July for their actions in the December 2002 incident at Green Valley Ranch Station. They are both appealing their dismissals.

According to a police report, about 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 14, 2002, Higgins, then 36, was intoxicated and refusing to leave the "High Limit" area in the casino.

Casino staff called police and their security detained Higgins in a holding cell, where she was handcuffed to a bench.

The report said Higgins kicked and spit at the security officers, and later kicked Blaskie while he and Janda were trying to get Higgins' identification from her purse.

After she kicked Blaskie, he sprayed her with the pepper spray, the police report said.

The police report and lawsuit both said Higgins asked for help. But her attorney and the city attorney said she wasn't given any until she was at the city detention center, which her attorney said was about two hours later.

Henderson Police policies for using pepper spray say that suspects who have been sprayed "will be treated by rinsing the exposed areas with water prior to transportation to the detention center."

A memo from City Attorney Shauna Hughes said Higgins "suffered clinical keratoconjunctivitis as a result of being sprayed and not being given medical care immediately after the spraying."

Keratoconjunctivitis is a medical condition in which a person has excessive dry eyes, which can lead to dehydration of the cornea. Symptoms include reduced tear production or complete loss of tears. The dryness can also lead to scarring of the eye that can impair vision. The condition can be treated by frequently applying special eye drops.

Hughes' memo said medical evidence given to the city shows Higgins will incur another $100,000 in medical expenses for the rest of her life.