Aaron Bailey's Family To Receive $650,000 In Settlement

Update, 11:40 a.m.: The Bailey family will receive $650,000 as part of the settlement.

In the agreement, which was released to the media Tuesday morning, the City of Indianapolis agrees to continue de-escalation training for its officers, and IMPD will allow members of the public to attend the first three sessions in that training.

IMPD Chief Bryan Roach also agrees to meet with the Bailey family in the next 30 days.

Original story: The estate of Aaron Bailey – the unarmed man who was shot and killed by IMPD officers last year – has settled its federal civil suit against the city.

Three months after Bailey was killed his family sued the City of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and the two officers who shot him, Michal Dinnsen and Carlton Howard.

Officers Dinnsen and Howard shot and killed 45-year-old Aaron Bailey on June 29, 2017, after Bailey crashed into a tree during a high-speed car chase. A special prosecutor found both officers innocent, and they received no criminal charges.

But soon after that decision, IMPD Chief Bryan Roach recommended Dinnsen and Howard be fired for failing to follow proper procedure, a decision that falls to a seven-member Civilian Police Merit Board.

Roach's request prompted months of internal investigation that ended when the merit board voted to clear the officers of any violations, allowing them to keep their jobs.

Dinnsen and Howard say they shot Bailey because they feared for their life. They say Bailey ignored calls to cooperate after the crash, and was seen digging in his car's center console before quickly turning towards Howard. These movements, they argue, were perceived reasonably as Bailey retrieving a gun.

There was no gun found in Bailey's vehicle. The officers’ attorney John Kautzman, along with multiple police training officers called as witnesses in the merit board's hearings, argued that officers are trained not to wait to see a gun before using deadly force – only an imminent threat needs to be perceived.

The merit board's decision to clear both officers prompted some, including City-County Council President Vop Osili, to call for changes to IMPD and its merit board.