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By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Mayor Tim Keller sent two overdue quarterly litigation reports to the City Council last month, revealing $4.38 million in lawsuit settlements over six months, including a case in which a police SWAT operation burned down a family’s home and killed a teenage boy hiding inside.
At its Sept. 21 meeting, the City Council approved two overdue fiscal year 2026 quarterly litigation reports on its consent agenda. The Mayor’s Office submitted the reports compiled by the City Attorney’s Office on Aug. 14, after the city had gone nearly a year without providing the Council with required litigation updates during the prior fiscal year. One covers October through December 2025 and was about seven months late, while the other covers January through March 2026 and was about four months late.
Photo by Roberto E. Rosales for the Paper Credit: The Paper
Among the largest settlements listed in the two reports, crashes involving solid waste, police, fire and transit vehicles accounted for about $2.18 million. The largest single payout, $1.05 million, went to a pedestrian struck by a city solid waste truck on Albuquerque’s northwest side. The complaint alleges the truck then reversed over her a second time. Albuquerque Police actions and SWAT property damage claims totaled $1.77 million. The largest police-related settlement was $500,000, in a case where a woman alleged a then-APD officer sexually assaulted her during a stop and search after turning off his body camera. Another $400,000 settlement stemmed from a 2022 SWAT standoff where officers fired gas grenades into a home to arrest a fugitive who was inside with a 15-year-old boy; a smoldering canister moved by an APD robot ignited the house, burning it down and killing the boy. According to the complaint, the homeowner and her family have lived out of her car ever since. A separate $400,000 settlement resolved a claim over a fatal shooting by police. Public records violations and court awards cost taxpayers $215,984 across seven cases, while employment discrimination cases added another $190,000.
The reports also detail cases the city won. One repeat plaintiff had 19 separate lawsuits against police and the City Clerk’s Office dismissed across the two reports. The city also won a bench-trial verdict in a case challenging a 2022 City Council vote that directed $250,000 in taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood as a “sponsorship” under the state’s anti-donation clause. City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, who sponsored the funding measure and defended it in the lawsuit, told The Paper’s City Desk, “It means that we’re going to continue to do exactly what we’re doing, which is looking for ways to fund groups that are doing good things for our community, getting them the money they need to continue to provide services for the people who live in ABQ.” Separately, the state Supreme Court declined to review a jury verdict favoring the city in a scooter-accident case.
All $4.38 million in settlements came from the city’s Risk Management Fund, so they did not require a direct tax increase. Newly confirmed City Attorney Joshua Boone also said he will provide more regular updates to the City Council in the future.
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