Woman, Las Vegas police reach nearly $25K settlement in civil rights case

A woman who accused an officer of pulling off her pants and then photographing her without consent is set to receive a $24,999 settlement from the Metropolitan Police Department.

The Metropolitan Police Committee on Fiscal Affairs approved the settlement of the woman’s civil rights lawsuit on Monday. The Las Vegas Review-Journal typically does not identify victims of sex crimes.

Former Metro officer Solomon Coleman, 31, is serving probation for a criminal conviction related to the incident.

The federal lawsuit, filed in in May 2015, stems from a domestic disturbance call the woman made to Metro on June 1, 2013.

Multiple officers arrived at her Las Vegas apartment and arrested her male companion, according to the lawsuit. It alleges that Coleman stayed at the scene with the woman and her 5-year-old son after the other officers left.

The lawsuit said Coleman followed the woman upstairs to her bedroom and told her to take off her shorts.

When she refused, he forcefully pulled down her shorts and underwear, according to the lawsuit, then used a cellphone to take nude pictures of her without her consent.

Later, the lawsuit alleged, Coleman exposed himself to the woman.

A grand jury indicted Coleman in December 2013. He was a five-year veteran of the department at the time.

Court documents show that Coleman was charged with two counts of oppression under color of office, two counts of gross lewdness and one count of photographing a person’s private area.

Last year a Clark County District Court jury acquitted Coleman of all counts except the charge of photographing a person’s private area, which is a gross misdemeanor. He was sentenced to probation, not to exceed two years, in July.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.