An unarmed Colorado man who was tased multiple times, physically and verbally harassed by sheriffs deputies in late 2022 reached a $1.5 million settlement, attorneys announced Monday.

Kenneth Espinoza was driving behind his son in Trinidad, Colorado, in late November of 2022 when his son, Nathaniel Espinoza, was pulled over by Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office (LACSO) Deputy Mikhail Noel for an alleged traffic violation, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit said Espinoza drove a circle around the block and pulled over about 75 feet behind Noel’s patrol vehicle to wait for his son when a second deputy, Henry Trujillo, pulled up and demanded Espinoza leave the area.

Espinoza was parked legally and was not interfering with the traffic stop, the lawsuit claimed.

In body camera footage from the officers, Espinoza is seen and heard telling the deputies that he is waiting for his son. Noel is also seen in the footage approaching Espinoza and demanding he leave.

The footage then shows Espinoza trying to drive away as ordered and Noel then yelling at him to stop, trying to pull open his door, then pulling his gun and pointing it at Espinoza’s face.

The footage shows Espinoza backing his truck off the road and Trujillo drawing his gun, yelling at Espinoza to get out of the truck and grabbing his arm through the window, while Noel gets into the passenger side of the truck, tasing Espinoza’s back and shoving him out of the truck.

Noel continued to tase Espinoza after he was out of the truck and handcuffed, according to the lawsuit.

The footage also shows the deputies tasing him, while shoving him into their patrol car. 

According to the lawsuit, they tased his face when he looked at them, then shoved him into the back seat and slammed the door on his leg.

The lawsuit said Espinoza refused to comply with their verbal questioning, that he was exercising his right to remain silent, and Trujillo grabbed him and dragged him out of the car, slammed him to the ground and threatened him with charges for non-compliance.

An ambulance arrived to take Espinoza to the hospital, but Trujillo insisted he transport Espinoza, instead taking him to the Las Animas County jail. Trujillo deactivated his body camera while transporting Espinoza, the lawsuit said, claiming that action violated Espinoza’s rights, LACSO policy and state law. 

En route to the jail, Trujillo called other members of the department on his cell phone, saying “get the chair ready, we’re going to (expletive) this guy up,” the lawsuit claimed.

Espinoza was charged with offenses, including resisting arrest and assault on a peace officer. The charges were dismissed on Dec. 6, 2022 by the District Attorney’s Office.

Due to his one day of jail time, Espinoza had to pay impound fees for his truck, bond to be released from jail, a retainer for legal defense of the charges, repair bills for damage to his truck, and therapy for himself and his son, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit said the defendants, who wrote police reports about the encounter, inaccurately claimed that Espinoza parked “five feet behind” Noel’s patrol car. The body camera footage showed otherwise. 

Noel also claimed in his police report to have been dragged by Espinoza’s truck when he grabbed the handle, a claim that can’t be substantiated by the bodycam footage, according to the lawsuit.

Trujillo claimed that Espinoza slipped when he got out of the patrol car, when footage shows Trujillo shoving him to the ground, the lawsuit said.

The incident caught national attention when attorneys released body camera footage and revealed a “history of violence” from Noel and Trujillo, according to a press release from Espinoza’s attorney Monday.

When the incident happened, Trujillo had multiple criminal convictions and had been subject to at least five restraining orders, two of which were due to alleged domestic abuse, the release said.

“Subsequent investigations revealed systemic failures at LACSO including fact Undersheriff (Rey) Santistevan signed off on the use of force report,” according to the news release.

The Denver Gazette attempted to reach the LASCO for comment. The person who answered the sheriff’s office phone said they had no media relations contact and transferred the reporter to an extension with no voicemail.