NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A former Norfolk police officer was ordered to pay $20,000 in connection to an illegal arrest in August of 2021.
According to court documents, on Friday, July 26, a judge ordered Officer Mormando to pay $20,000 towards the plaintiff, who claimed that Mormando and another officer violated his constitutional and state rights.
The documents state that on Aug. 8, 2021, the plaintiff called the Norfolk Police Department to his home in Norfolk, hoping that the officers would be able to diffuse an argument between the plaintiff and his partner.
The two officers, Mormando and an unknown partner, arrived to the scene and immediately began to treat the plaintiff “as if he were a criminal,” according to the documents.
Shortly afterwards, the plaintiff asked both of the officers to leave after Mormando began arguing with the plaintiff, stating that they were “making the situation worse.” Mormando then allegedly became agitated, slamming the plaintiff’s head on the floor and placing him in handcuffs. The second officer was said to have taken no action, documents state.
The plaintiff then asked both of the officers why he was being arrested, to which they provided no explanation, later driving the plaintiff to a hospital several miles from his home to have his head examined.
The documents then state that once the plaintiff was cleared to leave the hospital, both of the officers entered their police cruiser and stranded the plaintiff at the hospital, forcing him to find an alternate way home.
After several complaints made to the police department, an investigation from the department, as stated in a letter on Feb. 22, 2023, determined that Mormando’s actions “violated police policy and procedure.”