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One-legged inmate awarded $504,000 in excessive force suit

File image of a gavel in front of law books.
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(AP) — A federal jury in San Francisco has awarded $504,000 to a one-legged jail inmate who was forced to hop to a cell.

Wednesday's verdict came in an excessive force lawsuit filed by Vincent Bell against the city.

Bell is awaiting trial in connection with the 2012 murder of a man who was kidnapped, shot and dumped on a San Francisco street.



Bell was being held at the jail in 2018 when he was moved to a padded “safety cell."

The suit says Bell was taken from his wheelchair and ordered to hop more than 60 feet to the cell.

When he fell, he was carried face-down.

The city attorney's office says the guards acted appropriately.