Decorate Disabled Veteran Settles Assault Lawsuit Against Police

Veteran settles police assault suit for $50,000
The Courier Journal
Matthew Glowicki
July 17, 2015

A retired Kentucky National Guard lieutenant colonel who sued a half dozen Louisville Metro Police officers alleging assault and wrongful detention has settled with the city for $50,000.

Donald Blake Settle, a Purple Heart and multiple Bronze Star recipient who served for 29 years and was deployed six times to the Middle East, first filed the suit against the officers in January 2013 in Jefferson Circuit Court.

He claimed that officers stopped him, pulled out a stun gun and eventually forced him face-down into the concrete and handcuffed him as he tried to leave Mid City Mall on Jan. 29, 2012.

Police said at the time they thought Settle was a homeless panhandler because of his dusty clothes and impaired speaking and memory, The Courier-Journal previously reported. They claimed Settle was acting aggressively during the incident and they perceived an imminent assault.

Settle told The Courier-Journal in 2012 that he has memory loss and problems speaking after suffering traumatic brain injuries while in Afghanistan.
read more here