$400,000 Partition Settlement paid by City

• Middletown settles excessive-force lawsuit for $400,000

Middletown — A $5.50 chicken dinner that cost a Middletown cop his job 

wound up costing the City of Middletown $400,000.

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  Photo providedPatrick Moser
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  By Oliver Mackson

  Posted Nov. 21, 2006 at 2:00 AM 
  
  
  

  Middletown — A $5.50 chicken dinner

  
  

  that cost a Middletown cop his job wound

  
  

  up costing the City of Middletown $400,000.

  That's how much the city and one of its

  
  

  insurance carriers paid to settle a

  
  

  federal lawsuit against the police

  
  

  department earlier this year, according to documents reviewed by the Times Herald-

  
  

  Record. The city paid $150,000 out of its own pocket, while Selective Insurance Group

  
  

  covered $250,000.

  The lawsuit accused Officer Patrick Moser of using excessive force and violating

  
  

  the civil rights of a 29-year-old man named Jacob Fitzgerald during an arrest

  
  

  last year. Moser was booted from his job after he was caught lying about a detail

  
  

  of the arrest and faces jail time. The settlement shows the price that the city as a

  
  

  whole had to pay for Moser's misdeeds.

  The story begins about 3 a.m. on April 9, 2005. Police got a call from the Kennedy

  
  

  Fried Chicken restaurant on North Street, complaining that Fitzgerald had left without

  
  

  paying for his $5.50 chicken dinner.

  Fitzgerald claimed Moser punched him without provocation. He suffered a broken jaw

  
  

  during the arrest.

  Moser contended that Fitzgerald was drunk and belligerent and

  
  

  hit his face on a divider (partition) in the police car.