$5 Million Settlement for Family of Terrence Bridges Jr., Fatally Shot by KCPD Officer in 2019
Won by The Popham Law Firm.
Tom Porto of The Popham Law Firm secured a $5 million settlement, approved by a Jackson County judge in April 2023 and reported as the largest in Kansas City Police Department history, for the family of Terrence Bridges Jr., an unarmed man fatally shot by Officer Dylan Pifer during a foot chase in 2019.
What happened
In the early morning hours of May 26, 2019, Kansas City Police Department officers responded to a domestic disturbance report on the 7000 block of Bellefontaine Avenue. Officers identified Terrence Bridges Jr., 30, as a possible suspect. When Officer Dylan Pifer moved to arrest him, Bridges fled on foot.
Pifer shot Bridges once in the chest during the chase. Bridges died at the hospital. He was unarmed. Post-shooting audio captured Pifer asking 'Why'd you attack me, dude?' and Bridges responding 'I didn't attack you.' A Jackson County grand jury declined to indict the officer in October 2019, with prosecutors concluding Pifer held a 'reasonable if mistaken belief' that Bridges was reaching for a weapon.
Bridges left behind two children. His mother, Rotonya McGee, and father, Terrence Bridges Sr., brought a civil wrongful-death action in Jackson County Circuit Court (Case No. 1916-CV23309). Tom Porto of The Popham Law Firm represented the family.
The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners approved a $5 million settlement in late 2022. Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Joel Fahnestock signed off on the agreement on April 10, 2023. Porto described the settlement as 'the police department's acknowledgment of the tragic and significant loss to the family.'
The $5 million figure was reported as the largest settlement in the history of the Kansas City Police Department.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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