SEATTLE — Three Washington state police officers who were acquitted of criminal charges in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis — a Black man who was shocked, beaten and held face down on a sidewalk as he begged for breath — will receive $500,000 each to leave the Tacoma Police Department. This is evident from documents released on Tuesday.
“What this means to the public is that these are excellent officers, and it’s unfortunate that Tacoma is losing them,” said Anne Bremner, attorney for one of the officers, Timothy Rankine.
A jury acquitted Rankine, 34, and co-defendants Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher Burbank, 38, in December after a trial that lasted more than two months. Rankine was charged with manslaughter, while Collins and Burbank were charged with manslaughter and manslaughter.
The city released copies of the “voluntary separation” agreements with the officers on Tuesday, as Police Chief Avery Moore announced findings that no one had violated the use of force policy in effect on March 3, 2020. Collins was found to have a policy regarding to have violated civility. .
The use of force policy has now been updated. The old one “failed to serve the best interests of the police department or the community,” Moore said.
“These agreements support a responsible, constructive path forward for our community and the Tacoma Police Department,” City Manager Elizabeth Pauli said in a written statement.
An attorney for Ellis’ family did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Ellis, 33, was walking home with donuts from a 7-Eleven in Tacoma, about 30 miles south of Seattle, when he passed a patrol car stopped at a red light with Collins and Burbank inside.
The officers claimed they saw Ellis try to open the door of a passing car at the intersection and that he became aggressive when they tried to question him about it. Collins testified that Ellis demonstrated “superhuman strength” by lifting Collins off the ground and throwing him through the air.
But three witnesses stated that they had seen no such thing. After what appeared to be a brief conversation between Ellis and the officers, both of whom are white, Burbank, in the passenger seat, threw open his door and knocked Ellis down, they said.
The witnesses — one of whom shouted for the officers to stop assaulting Ellis — and a doorbell surveillance camera captured video of parts of the encounter. The video showed Ellis with his hands up in a surrender position as Burbank fired a Taser into his chest and Collins wrapped an arm around his neck from behind.
Rankine was among several other officers who responded. Ellis was already handcuffed face down when he arrived. Rankine knelt on his upper back.
The video showed Ellis addressing officers as “sir” as he told them he couldn’t breathe. An officer is heard replying: “Shut up, man.”
Lawyers for the officers argued that Ellis died from a fatal amount of methamphetamine in his system and from a heart condition, and not from the officers’ actions.
Ellis’ death became a touchstone for racial justice protesters in the Pacific Northwest. But it also coincided with the first U.S. outbreak of COVID-19 at a nursing home in nearby Kirkland and did not capture the attention that the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis did nearly three months later.
The lawsuit was the first under a five-year-old state law intended to make it easier to prosecute police accused of unlawful use of deadly force.
The Ellis family settled a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Pierce County, home to Tacoma, for $4 million last year.
