[Archived] Aaron Brown Case Against City of Alexandria Settled

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	June 14, 2007 PIO# 159-07/sjm	Steve Mason, Director of Communications, at 703.838.4300

Aaron Brown Case Against City of Alexandria Settled

The City of Alexandria and Jeffrey and Cheryl Brown have agreed to resolve the Browns’ claim for the death of their 18-year-old son Aaron, who was shot by Alexandria police officer Carl Stowe at an IHOP restaurant on February 25, 2006. As approved by the Alexandria City Council, the City will pay the Browns $1.1 million to resolve all claims against the City and Officer Stowe. This agreement is the result of a voluntary mediation held between the Alexandria and the Browns.

“We regret very much what happened to Aaron Brown. We hope this settlement helps the Brown family achieve some measure of healing,” said Alexandria City Manager Jim Hartmann. “Police Chief David Baker has instituted policy changes to make it clear that officers should not fire their weapons at moving vehicles. We believe this will help prevent anything like this from occurring again.”

“No amount of money could be adequate to replace our son,” said Mr. And Mrs. Brown. “We intend to use this settlement to honor his memory in a variety of ways, including the local chapter of Guitars Not Guns which we helped to start. This organization teaches music to deprived youngsters, and we believe it is something our son as a musician would very much have wanted to be part of.”

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