Police to pay $290,000 to settle suit

The Metropolitan Police Department will pay $290,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who said he was wrongfully arrested after repossessing his ex-wife's car.

The settlement for Keith D. Gibbons was approved Wednesday by the agency's Fiscal Affairs Committee.

Gibbons sued the Police Department and the detectives who handled the case. The lawsuit said police violated Gibbons' civil rights when they arrested him in February 2005 on charges of auto theft and grand larceny.

The car was awarded to Gibbons' ex-wife in their divorce, but he had the right to repossess it if payments fell more than 30 days behind, the lawsuit said. He took the car and returned his ex-wife's personal property, yet was charged with the crimes, the suit said.

The arrest warrant was based on incomplete and unsupported evidence that the detectives should have known was false, the lawsuit said.

Prosecutors dropped the charges, the suit said.