Huntsville will pay $15,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the family of a mentally ill man who was stomped by police while being taken into custody in 2021.

U.S. District Court Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr. approved the settlement last week after ruling that the terms of the proposed settlement between the city and attorneys for Kemontae Hobbs were “fair and reasonable.”

Attorney Martin Weinberg, who represented Hobbs, said he thought all parties were pleased that the case has been resolved.

“We can put this in the rearview mirror,” he said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty in litigation, but now there’s resolution.”

The settlement is in response to an excessive force lawsuit filed after Hobbs was arrested in a Mapco convenience store at University Drive and North Memorial Parkway on May 30, 2021. Mapco previously settled for “a nominal sum,” Weinberg said.

Police were called to the store after an employee complained Hobbs was panhandling and refused to leave, AL.com reported at the time. Court documents say Huntsville police officers including Christopher Glaser and Cameron Beatty subdued Hobbs in an extended melee, during which Hobbs was shocked with a Taser and had his leg stomped on – though documents state it was neither Glaser nor Beatty who stomped him.

Hobbs, who was 22 at the time, was booked on charges of trespass, obstruction and resisting arrest. He was released shortly after, and in June 2021, Huntsville police acknowledged an unnamed officer “acted outside of applicable HPD policy” during the arrest, AL.com reported.

Hobbs’ mother told AL.com in 2021 that her son had a diagnosed mental illness. He has since been committed to a state mental hospital, according to court documents.

A psychiatrist with the Alabama Department of Mental Health testified that Hobbs suffered from “schizoaffective disorder and unspecified intellectual disability,” the documents state.

Under the terms of the settlement, the city will pay $15,000 to a trust in Hobbs’ name, as well as $2,772.50 to an attorney who will oversee the trust as a court-appointed guardian. The city and all officers involved will be released from any future liability related to the incident.