By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot

© December 2, 2006

NORFOLK - The city has agreed to pay $335,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a man who lost an eye because of injuries he received during his 2003 arrest for heroin dealing.

Thomas James Frazier, 37, had charged that an officer struck him in the face while he was handcuffed, injuring his eye so badly that it had to be surgically removed.

City Attorney Bernard Pishko said he believed the amount is the highest settlement ever paid by Norfolk in a excessive-force complaint. The city agreed to a $200,000 settlement with the family of Raymond Chandler, a motorist who died during a traffic stop in 2000.

In Frazier's case, the city and the officers named admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Officers denied striking Frazier's eye, according to court papers.

Late one afternoon in November 2003, an undercover police officer approached Frazier in the 1400 block of Tidewater Drive and purchased $10 worth of heroin. The officer left and signaled for an arrest team to move in, according to court papers.

Frazier ran off with police in pursuit. Officers found him on Goff Street, hiding in bushes.

What happened next is the point of contention. Frazier initially charged that officers handcuffed him and that one officer struck him with a police radio. That knocked his eye out of its socket, he contended. Ultimately, it was surgically removed.

The officers who had chased him - Rodney J. Fentress, Brian K. Guertler, and Kenneth D. Peele - all of whom were named as defendants - denied abusing him. The city's lawyers also contended that no officer injured Frazier's eye. In initial reports, police suggested a branch had poked his eye during a struggle.

Frazier pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to distribution of heroin. He argued unsuccessfully that loss of his eye was punishment enough and received a sentence of nine years and nine months, with five years suspended.

Frazier filed suit against the city and five police officers. Two of them who had not helped capture him were later dismissed from the suit. Frazier alleged that police used excessive force and that the department failed to investigate the incident.

The court file contains brief statements from people who said they saw an officer strike Frazier. Those witnesses, coupled with the serious nature of Frazier's injury, were considerations in settlement discussions, Pishko said.

After legal costs and expenses, and his hospital bills - the amount of which is in dispute - Frazier will collect at least $160,829, the settlement says.

Pishko declined to say if any officers were disciplined, saying that was a personnel matter. But he stressed that the city did not consider them at fault. "We believed the officers," he said.

Robert W. Klotz, a former Washington, D.C., police official hired as a consultant by Frazier's lawyers, submitted a report filed in federal court contending that police "failed to conduct a timely, thorough and impartial investigation of this incident" even though the injury occurred while Frazier was in police custody.

Chief Bruce P. Marquis, who became chief after the incident, said recently that he has full faith in his internal-affairs unit, which he said is staffed with seasoned investigators.

Adam H. Lotkin, Frazier's lead attorney, said his client is glad the case is over.

"He's obviously always going to have a reminder of this situation for the rest of his life," Lotkin said. Frazier plans to start over when he gets out of prison in a couple of years and doesn't want to repeat his mistakes, he added.