PENSACOLA, Fla.
The City Council unanimously approved a $35,000 settlement for a teenage girl who sued the city after claiming a police officer forced her to do jumping jacks while topless, officials said. "It was approved without discussion," City Manager Tom Bonfield said of Thursday's decision.
The April 2003 incident occurred when Officer Shawn Patrick Shields found the girl, then 16, and a 19-year-old male together in a parked car. Shields made the two teens exit their vehicle, then told them he could arrest them for lewd and lascivious behavior, authorities said.
The girl told investigators that Shields told her to perform five topless jumping jacks, which she said she did as he shone his flashlight on her.
Both teenagers passed polygraph tests during the investigation.
Shields was later fired from the police department and pleaded no contest to extortion.
He was placed on probation for two years in December 2003 and ordered to write a letter of apology to the girl.
The name of the girl's attorney was not immediately known.
