ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A jury has sided with a man in his civil rights lawsuit against the City of Rochester and a Rochester police officer, awarding $375,000 in compensatory damages.
The verdict, returned on Friday in the Western District of New York, found that Officer Jonathan Laureano falsely arrested Devin Johnson, maliciously prosecuted him, and fabricated evidence to justify an unlawful traffic stop.
The incident began on August 24, 2019, when Johnson, 25 at the time, borrowed a SUV to drive to work. Officers surveilling him claimed he was “acting suspiciously” and pulled him over at the intersection of Clifford and Miller streets for allegedly failing to signal before turning…