Oregon Family Lands $1 Million Settlement in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Portland, ORA wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the 2005 death of an unarmed 27-year-old man in a police confrontation has been settled by Clackamas County to the tune of $1 million.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Fouad Kaady was suspected in three hit-and-run crashes—incidents the Kaady family lawyer claims were the result of a fire in Fouad's automobile. When Kaady emerged from his car naked, burned and bleeding, the police fired a stun gun at him. At that point, the young man climbed on top of a police cruiser, provoking the officers to open fire. He was shot to death by a Sandy police officer and a county sheriff's deputy.

This settlement, which was entered in the U.S. District Court in Portland, is the latest in a string of lawsuits stemming from the incident. The grand jury had previously cleared the two officers of wrongdoing, and the Kaadys won a similar $1 million settlement from the city of Sandy and the sheriff's department.

"The family decided that rather than go through the trauma of a three-week trial, where they would relive the death of a loved one, that in the settlements, they got some justice," said the Kaadys' attorney, Kent Spence. "They got the case closed and they have decided to move on."