Woman allegedly beaten by NLV corrections officer gets $350K settlement

The North Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved a $350,000 settlement for a woman who alleged in a federal lawsuit that she was beaten by a corrections officer at the city jail, breaking her arm.

The expenditure was included in the council’s consent agenda, a package of items that are generally approved in a single vote without further public discussion.

Staff wrote that the city attorney’s office recommended settling the case, adding that it would “eliminate any potential risk of an adverse verdict and to save money on further defending this matter.”

The suit, filed in late 2023, named the city, corrections officer Jarrod Minor, unnamed colleagues of his and the city.

The city said Tuesday that Minor “separated” from the city on Jan. 6, adding that he had been on a second stint after first being hired in 2008. A gap of employment Minor had with the city coincided with the years the jail was closed as a “cost-saving measure,” the city said.

North Las Vegas did not disclose why Minor left this year, adding that, “Any disciplinary action would be considered part of his confidential personnel record.”

Cherie Blackmon had gone to a Metropolitan Police Department substation the previous year to file a report after a car crash, the suit said. Instead, she was transferred to North Las Vegas police custody because she had a pending arrest warrant.

She was jailed at the city’s Community Correctional Center, according to the lawsuit. Awaiting to see a judge the following day, Blackmon and Minor got into a “verbal argument” through a window.

Minor instructed her to exit the cell, which she did, the suit said.

That’s when Minor grabbed Blackmon by her wrists and the back of her head “and struck her face against the cell window/door/wall,” according to the suit. “Plaintiff’s face was repeatedly struck against the window/door/wall in the holding facility.”

Blackmon “suffered serious injuries to her head and face, left arm and shoulder, and her ribs, including a oblique fracture through the midshaft of her left humerus,” the complaint said.

In a response filing, the city acknowledged the quarrel and that Blackmon broke her arm while in police custody, but blamed her actions for her injuries.

“The Defendant officers’ use of force, if any, was reasonable and justified under the circumstances alleged and was perfected pursuant to the officers’ reasonable fear for their own safety and/or the safety of others,” city attorneys wrote.

Blackmon’s listed attorney could not be reached for comment Wednesday. A search through North Las Vegas courts didn’t indicate she has a criminal record.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.