Jury awards $16.6M excessive-force verdict to LIer

A federal court jury Friday returned a stunning $16.6-million excessive-force verdict to a former construction worker from Long Island who lost his right leg in 2004 when a Nassau County police officer ran over him to make a misdemeanor arrest.

The Brooklyn federal jury, after less than three hours of deliberation, also found Thomas Hartmann, 41, was entitled to punitive damages in an amount to be determined on Monday because Det. Karl Snelders acted with "evil motive or intent," or with "callous disregard" for Hartmann's rights.

Asked how he felt after the verdict, which followed six years of litigation against Nassau County and a three week trial, Hartmann said, "Good. But I still don't have a leg, you know?"

"This is about the Constitution and respect for the Constitution," said one of Hartmann's lawyers, Harvey Weitz. "This is about law and order. This is not about money."

Snelders, 48, a 24-year veteran of the Nassau force, declined to comment on the verdict as did the county's lawyer, Garrett Swenson of Brookhaven. Although Snelders was the only named defendant, the county represented him and will be responsible for indemnifying him for damages.

The outcome could also be controversial for the new administration of County Executive Edward Mangano, which removed the in-house lawyer handling the case and hired Swenson to try it just over three weeks before the start of trial.

County attorney John Ciampoli, in a statement Friday, said because the jury was still deliberating on punitive damages, "it would be inappropriate, and even unethical, for the parties to have any comment."

Hartmann, who grew up in Long Beach and now lives in Mount Vernon, had made harassing phone calls to his wife in violation of an order of protection and threatened police on the night of March 11, 2004.

When police located him the next day, Hartmann testified that he tried to run away and Snelders ran him down with his car from behind, crushing his legs. Snelders said he used his car to knock Hartmann down after Hartmann gestured as if he had a gun, but no gun was ever found.

The jury's award Friday included $6 million for pain and suffering, $2.1 million for medical expenses and $8.5 million in lost wages.

In an unusual procedure, the case still has two stages to go. On Monday, jurors will have to answer a series of questions about what the officer did, and the judge will use the answers to determine if Snelders is entitled to any form of legal immunity.

If the verdict passes that hurdle, jurors will then decide how much to award in punitive damages.