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Judge Approves $1.2 Million Settlement Following Deputy-Related Shooting

WFDD FILE PHOTO

The family of a Rockingham County man who was killed by a sheriff's deputy has settled a civil suit for over $1 million. 

Thirty-eight-year-old Todd Burroughs of Stoneville died in a deputy-related shooting in May of 2016.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Burrough's widow and their two children.

The News & Record reports U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe L. Webster approved the $1.2 million settlement in early January.

The suit listed Sheriff Sam Page and Deputy Frank Martin along with the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.

Martin and Deputy Chase Myers were trying to subdue Burroughs when he rushed them and grabbed a steel baton. Martin shot Burroughs after repeated warnings to drop the baton.

The State Bureau of Investigation cleared the officers of any wrongdoing and said the use of force was justified.

The civil suit asserted the deputies used excessive force. Lawyers for the Burroughs family cited the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

County officials maintain they were opposed to the settlement, and say that decision was ultimately made by the insurance company.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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