None — The son of a Sanford police officer, who was caught on video punching a homeless man, has agreed to pay for his victim's medical bills Tuesday. Justin Collison, 21, has worked out an out-of-court settlement after receiving threats of a lawsuit.
COP'S SON PUNCHES MAN (explicit) : Raw Video DOCUMENT: Read Incident Report
The agreement was announced by the Sherman Ware's attorney on Tuesday. Ware was seen in the video being beaten by Collison (watch video) . Collison has agreed to pay Ware's medical bills and for pain and suffering. But attorneys are not saying how much money that is because it's a confidential settlement.
The incident began when there was a brawl outside a bar in Sanford. Ware, a homeless man, was trying to break up the fight when Collison came up from behind and punched Ware. Witnesses and the victim's family said Ware never even saw the punch coming.
Collison is the son of a Sanford police lieutenant. Even though police saw the video that night, Collison was not arrested. After WFTV's story aired, and a month after the incident, Collison was arrested.
The State Attorney's Office filed formal charges on Monday against Collison.
The settlement also requires Collison make donations of $1,000 each to the Seminole County NAACP and the Seminole Coalition for the Homeless, which is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility.
"Mr. Ware wanted to put this behind him. We've been talking about this. Really it would have happened immediately when Mr. Collison's attorney reached out to us. However, Mr. Ware wanted to make this substantial thing. He wanted some sort of donations," said Ware's attorney, Natalie Jackson.
Collison agreed to a civil settlement with his victim.
"Justin Collison reached out to our office," Jackson said.
As part of the settlement, Collison must also go through substance abuse treatment and anger management therapy.
No one at Collison's house would talk about the settlement. But WFTV's legal analyst said it will likely have no bearing on the criminal case since Collison isn't necessarily admitting he committed a crime.
"He took into consideration the fact that Justin Collison is just 21 years old and has a substance abuse problem like himself," Jackson said.
Jackson told WFTV she didn't think Ware necessarily wanted Collison to serve prison time because he's been given so many chances, and he believes Collison might need another chance to turn his life around.