$8.7 Million for Louima in Torture Settlement

Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant tortured with a broken broomstick in a police station bathroom in 1997, received an $8.7-million settlement in one of the nation’s most notorious police brutality cases.

“I don’t really see myself as a rich man,” Louima said. “I see myself as someone who’s lucky to be alive and able to see some justice.”

The settlement came after months of tense negotiations with the city and its police union.

Louima was arrested four years ago outside a Brooklyn nightclub. An officer, mistakenly believing Louima had punched him, sodomized Louima with a broomstick.