SALEM, Ore. — A Salem man has been awarded more than $3 million after being wrongfully arrested and subjected to excessive force by a Salem police officer during an incident in 2021. Christopher Garza told KGW that he's relieved for the whole ordeal to be over.
"Well, I feel vindicated," Garza said. "I feel good that justice has prevailed."
It's been two years since surveillance video captured his encounter with Salem police. On Sept. 17, 2021, Garza was outside of the tire shop where he lived and worked when a man pulled up just after midnight, saying he was having car problems.
"His radiator was overheating; I was just giving him some assistance and hopefully could get him back on the road again," Garza recalled.
As Garza was inspecting the car, Salem Police Officer David Baker arrived on the scene. Garza said Officer Baker accused him of trying to steal the car.
"I turned around and walked away," Garza said. "Upon walking away, Officer Baker grabbed me on the right shoulder, right arm, and manhandles me and throws me in the front of the police car."
"[Officer Baker] forced his hands back behind," Garza's attorney Greg Kafoury continued, "roughed him up for about a minute, then took his handcuffed hands and lifted them (forcefully) like that toward the back of his head."
In a report, Officer Baker described Garza as "confrontational," claiming that he began cursing and raising his voice early on in the encounter. He wrote that Garza tried walking away with a small object in his hand, and he worried that Garza would escalate the situation if he obtained "any type of object that could be construed as a weapon."
Garza, who is Native American and Hispanic, disputes that description of the situation. He believes he was racially profiled, and says that the officer's excessive force has left him with lasting physical impairment.
"I went through one surgery, and I need another surgery," he said. "My arm probably won't work the same ever again."
Ultimately, a jury ordered the city of Salem to pay Garza more than $3 million at the conclusion of a civil trial, citing excessive force, battery and false arrest.
"I think it's going to set a precedent here in Oregon for police officers to think twice," Garza said.
KGW reached out to the city of Salem for comment but has yet to hear back.