The city of Cincinnati and the Kroger Co. reached a $240,000 settlement with the family of an 11-year-old girl who was shocked with a stun gun by an off-duty policeman in August, WCPO reported.
Donesha Gowdy was shocked by the policeman on Aug. 6 after she was suspected of shoplifting a backpack full of food, WLWT reported. Authorities said the girl resisted arrest and tried to run away, the television station reported.
Officer Kevin Brown, who was on security duty, fired his Taser as Gowdy tried to leave, WCPO reported. One probe struck her at the base of her spine and the other hit between her shoulder blades, the television station reported.
The girl was taken to a hospital and was later released to one of her parents.
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley apologized after the incident, and in a statement, police Chief Eliot K. Isaac promised "a very thorough review" of Brown's actions, as well as the department's use-of-force policies against juvenile suspects. Isaac said he was "extremely concerned when force is used by one of our officers on a child of this age," WCPO reported.
Brown has been placed on restricted duty, pending the outcome of the investigation, the television station reported. Gowdy, meanwhile, wrote a letter of apology to the Kroger Co.
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