2 Canadians win $700K for wrongful arrests

DETROIT, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Two Canadian men are entitled to $350,000 each from a Detroit suburb for being wrongfully arrested for assault and jailed several days, a federal judge says.

Timothy McGuire and James Ryan, both of Ontario, were mistaken for the assailants in a parking lot attack after an Alabama concert at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in 2003.

U.S. District Judge Sean F. Cox issued consent judgments Wednesday, requiring the city of Royal Oak and its insurer to pay a total of $700,000 to the two men.

McGuire and Ryan sued the city and off-duty Royal Oak Police Sgts. Douglas Warner and Barry Gale in 2005, alleging the officers mistook them for the assailants. Two other men later pleaded guilty in the attack. Warner and Gale, who had been at the concert, saw the assault and went to help the victim.

The city had agreed to a settlement in August after a two-week civil trial but before the case was given to the jury. But Royal Oak's attorney sought to back out of the deal after The Detroit News reported the settlement amount was in "six figures," quoting an unidentified source familiar with the case. The city alleged a confidentiality clause had been broken.

Cox ruled against the city and issued his order Wednesday because Royal Oak had not paid the settlement by Sept. 14.