Tom Waits Wins LAPD Damages

In May 1977, American singer-songwriter Tom Waits and a friend were arrested after fighting with police officers inside a Los Angeles coffee shop. Prosecutors charged them with two counts of disturbing the peace, but eight defense witnesses refuted the officers' account and said he intervened a group of men who were bullying other patrons. The court acquitted both men. Waits sued the Los Angeles Police Department and received $7,500 in damages five years later.

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