⚠️ Clifton’s insurer will pay $625,000 to settle an excessive-force lawsuit.
➡️ A Wanaque man said officers pepper-sprayed him and repeatedly punched him in 2018.
🔴 Police disputed key details but acknowledged force was used during the arrest.
CLIFTON — A New Jersey man will get six figures to settle a lawsuit that accused police officers of using excessive force, including repeated blows to the head.
Last month, the City of Clifton and Wanaque native Anthony Alfaiate reached the $625,000 settlement. Its insurer will pay the amount. The city also paid $188,000 in taxpayer funds to defend the lawsuit, reported TransparencyNJ‘s John Paff.
While Clifton settled, the city didn’t admit to any wrongdoing. It’s the end of a case that goes back more than eight years.
How a drunkenness call turned into a violent confrontation
Alfaiate was in his early 20s at the time of the chaos around 1 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2018 in a Clifton steakhouse parking lot. Police were called for a report of a dangerously intoxicated woman…