Minneapolis poised to pay $275K to man who said police beat him, lied about confidential informant

A Minneapolis City Council committee approved a $275,000 payout Monday to settle a lawsuit from a man who said a police officer beat him during a traffic stop, then lied about evidence to obtain a search warrant for his home.

Andre Moore, 52, filed a federal lawsuit a year ago alleging Minneapolis police officers Tony Partyka, Neal Walsh and others first violated his constitutional rights by "unnecessarily and recklessly using excessive force to pull Moore from his vehicle, throw him to the ground" and beat him on the side of the road during a traffic stop, leaving Moore with a broken nose.

A few months later, in February 2020, Partyka violated Moore's civil rights again "as retribution for Moore's complaints to the Minneapolis police department" when he led a SWAT raid into Moore's north Minneapolis house, according to the suit.

Moore faced up to 13 years in prison for the drug charges. But Hennepin County Judge Paul Scoggin threw out the evidence recovered in the search after Moore's public defenders exposed what Scoggin called a "reckless disregard for the truth" by Partyka. Among the discrepancies Partyka could not explain: why a plastic baggie, which the officer had sworn in a warrant application contained drug residue, was empty when produced as evidence in the courtroom.

The City Council's committee on policy and government oversight voted unanimously in favor of the settlement with no discussion. The City Attorney's Office declined to comment on the payout agreement. Moore's attorneys also chose not to comment pending final approval from the City Council.

The settlement — the latest in a series of costly payouts — comes as Minneapolis enters into consent decree negotiations with the Justice Department over a pattern of discriminatory policing. The federal civil rights investigation found police in Minneapolis stopped and searched Black and Native American people at higher rates than whites, often without finding contraband.

The Star Tribune first reported on Moore's saga in May 2021. Police dashboard and body-worn camera footage showed Partyka and his partner pull Moore over on a December night in 2019, after Partyka said Moore "failed to signal 100 feet prior to turning." After approaching the vehicle, Partyka shouted, "Put your hands up!"

"[Officer] Walsh's knee strikes to Moore's head rendered Moore temporarily unconscious," the civil complaint continues. "While Moore was unconscious and thus completely immobilized, [an unidentified officer] pulled Moore by the hair and dragged him along the ground."

In his report, Partyka said he believed Moore was reaching for a weapon. But the officers found no weapon in a search of the vehicle.

Moore was booked into jail and charged with obstruction of justice. When he got out on bail and visited the hospital, doctors found he had a broken nose, facial abrasions, a head injury and a black eye, according to medical records Moore shared with the Star Tribune.

He filed two complaints against Partyka afterward, but no officer ever followed up on the allegations, according to the civil complaint. "On information and belief, both complaint forms were intentionally destroyed by the police before they were submitted for investigation," the suit says.

The obstruction charges were dropped.

'Moore Money, Moore Problems'

The February 2020 search netted 2 pounds of meth, leading to felony drug charges, according to charging documents.

In the police report, Partyka replaced the default header with a nickname for the case: "Moore Money Moore Problems," a reference to a Notorious B.I.G. song about drug dealing. Instead of the new mugshot, Partyka attached the photo from his previous arrest, which showed Moore's mangled face after his beating.

Over the next seven months, public defenders Tanya Bishop and Alicia Granse began to unravel inconsistencies in the case, including raising questions about whether a confidential informant Partyka cited in his warrant application existed.

In a July 2020 hearing, Granse asked prosecutors to produce the bag of drug residue also listed in the warrant application to corroborate the informant. Partyka had said he'd found the bag in Moore's trash can. But when prosecutors brought in the bag, Partyka acknowledged it was empty.

"I don't have an explanation for that, sir," Partyka said.

Scoggin suppressed the evidence collected in the drug raid, citing Partyka's "material misrepresentation" in a court order.

In the lawsuit, Moore's attorneys questioned why Partyka — a patrol cop — was leading the investigation into Moore in the first place. "He was not and never had been an investigator or detective, and he was not assigned to any unit specifically tasked with investigating drug crimes," the complaint states.

The lawsuit alleges Partyka obtained the warrant by "falsely telling the judge that he had found baggies containing drugs in a trash bin outside Moore's residence and that a so-called confidential and reliable source had observed Moore selling drugs at the property."

The suit also said, "probably not coincidentally," the description of Moore from Partyka's informant exactly matched the height and weight on Moore's driver's license, "which Partyka had access to as a result of his arrest of Moore three months before."