Fort Worth approves $150K settlement with man thrown face-first on ground by officer

The Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday approved a $150,000 settlement with a man who was thrown face-first onto the ground by a police officer and knocked unconscious two years prior.

The council unanimously approved the payment with 32-year-old Tawayne Holloway. Fort Worth police officers arrested Holloway about 3 a.m. Jan. 28, 2022, on a public intoxication charge.

His hands were cuffed behind his back as he was being taken into the facility by then-Fort Worth police Officer Mitchell Miller. Holloway sued the city and Miller in federal court in May 2023 and alleged Miller grabbed him and threw him onto a concrete floor, causing him to briefly lose consciousness.

Surveillance video captured the moment and showed Miller standing over Holloway and attempting to lift him up by his arm after he was on the ground. Holloway was treated at a nearby hospital before being released into police custody.

Miller was fired May 19, 2022, after an investigation determined he used excessive force. He was previously fired by the department in 2019 after Christopher Lowe, 55, died in the back of a police car after pleading for medical attention. Five officers were fired in the case involving Lowe’s death.

Miller was reinstated in 2020.

The suit alleged Miller and the city of Fort Worth violated Holloway’s constitutional rights, saying “Miller’s actions showed a reckless or callous disregard of, or indifference to [his] rights and safety.”

It also said the incident occurred because of Fort Worth police’s policies and practices and alleged the department has a culture of using excessive force.

In the council meeting, council members did not comment before voting to approve the funds. Holloway’s attorney Dean Malone told the Fort Worth Report he is glad they were able to reach a settlement and said, “there was absolutely no reason at all to throw him face down on the ground and knock him out.”