$538,000 To Man Shot By Officer

TACOMA - A lawsuit filed by a Louisiana man who was shot in the back by a Tacoma police officer two years ago will cost city taxpayers more than half a million dollars.

The City Council agreed Tuesday night to pay Darrell Coleman $538,000 to settle a police-misconduct lawsuit filed in December 1996.

Coleman, formerly of Tacoma, claimed officer Barry Paris acted with reckless disregard when he shot him, while his hands were up, the night of May 21, 1996.

Coleman, who was unarmed and never was tied to the crime Paris was investigating, was severely injured.

The money will pay for further medical and psychological treatment for Coleman, 32, said his lawyer.

A former sheet-metal worker, Coleman has been unable to work since the shooting and has been living under the care of his mother in Homer, La.

Paris, still on the force, didn't face disciplinary action or prosecution because there was no criminal intent involved, Tacoma Police spokesman Jim Mattheis said at the time.