RENO — Washoe County has paid $75,000 to settle a civil case involving a college student who claimed a sheriff’s deputy “manhandled” her and used excessive force during an arrest at Lake Tahoe.
Lauren Kettell, a student at the University of San Francisco, was paddle-boarding at Incline Village in July 2011 when Deputy Brent Coss instructed her to wear a life vest.
According to her attorney, Kettell began paddling back to her grandparents’ house to get a life vest, but Coss demanded she get in his boat.
Kettell said she would instead talk to him on the beach, but was arrested there by Coss. The deputy is accused of grabbing her, throwing her down and putting his knee in her back for nearly 10 minutes.
Washoe County officials told the Reno Gazette-Journal (http://on.rgj.com/12xJepO ) that the county denies all allegations and settled to limit litigation fees. They called it a “nuisance lawsuit settlement.”
All charges against the 19-year-old Kettell were dismissed.
