Denver pays another $500,000 for police and sheriff's malpractice.

In April 2021, Scott Peters entered prison unharmed. According to his attorney, Cameron Bedard, Peters later left prison with broken bones, severed arteries and “permanent disfigurement.”

Today, the city is paying Peters $400,000 to settle a misconduct claim with the Denver Sheriff's Department. In another case, Denver settles $100,000 in a case involving the Denver Police Department. The city council approved both payments Monday.

The two cases are the latest among millions of dollars in settlements and jury trials that Denver police and sheriff's departments have paid in recent years over allegations of misconduct.

Bedard said his client landed in jail after a concerned citizen called him about Peters sleeping in his car.

Peters' attorney said that after police and paramedics responded to the scene, Bedard was injected with a sedative, treated at Denver Health, and then sent to the Denver Sheriff's Department for a minor infraction in drug matters.

Bedard said Peters was unable to stand or speak after treatment because of the sedative and had to be transported to jail in a wheelchair.

“The officers told Mr. Peters to get up and enter the jail cell. Mr. Peters did not understand these orders due to his altered mental state caused by unintentionally administered sedative injections,” Bédard told Denverite in an email. “When Mr. Peters did not respond, the officers removed him from the wheelchair and dragged him to a cameraless jail cell where at least six officers held him on the ground, face down, while kneeling on the back of his legs. by holding him by his stomach and applying pressure to his body to keep him on the ground.

Bedard said that when Peters was gasping for air, officers interpreted his behavior as resistance and used nunchucks on his client until Peters' bones broke and his arteries were severed. Peters then returned to Denver Health to treat his injuries.

“Today’s settlement compensates Mr. Peters for the barbarity he suffered at the downtown Denver detention center,” Bédard said of the $400,000 settlement.

Denverite has reached out to the Denver Sheriff's Department for comment.

In the second settlement, the city pays $100,000 over allegations of misconduct by the Denver Police Department.

In this case, also dating back to April 2021, Denver police officers entered Lidya Ryans' home after she called 911 following a verbal argument with her husband. According to Bédard, police hit Ryans, arrested her and charged her with assault on a police officer — a charge that was later dismissed.

Bedard's firm, Frank Law Office LLC, represents both clients in the settlements reached Monday. He said Ryans was “treated like a criminal” after calling 911.

“This settlement will not erase the nightmare that she and her family experienced,” Bédard said. “But it sends a message to DPD.”

The Denver Police Department said the Denver Police Department's independent watchdog investigated the case.

“An investigation into the incident with Ms. Ryans was conducted with the oversight and input of the Office of the Independent Monitor,” Kelly Jacobs, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, wrote in a statement to Denverite. “The allegation of inappropriate force was dismissed by IA and no formal disciplinary action was taken, although the use of profanity by Officer Bernal Blanco was resolved through informal counseling.”