PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A mediation hearing has been scheduled in a civil rights lawsuit filed by hostages during the 2015 standoff at Eagle Nation Cycles in Neenah, in an effort to avoid a June trial.
Brian Flatoff took multiple people hostage at the store, upset about his motorcycle. During the standoff, police officers shot and killed Michael Funk. The officers were not charged, and a federal lawsuit by Funk’s estate was dismissed.
Ethan Moderson, Ryan Moderson, Michael Peterson, Stephen Erato, and George Fuerte filed suit against the City of Neenah, Sgt. Angela Eichmann, Lt. Shaun O’Bre, Lt. Tyron Thompson, Officer Jonathan Kuffel, Officer Marly Heiting and several others. The suit claims hostages were treated as if they were criminals, not crime victims, and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The city denies the claims.
The case is scheduled to go trial in June, but Walter Stern III, the plaintiff’s attorney, sent a letter to the court last month.
“After discussion between counsel, the parties in the above matter would like to pursue mediation in an attempt to come to a mutually acceptable settlement of the civil rights action. We would ask the Court to appoint a magistrate to hear the matter and stay the deadlines in the proceedings until mediation is completed,” Stern wrote.
The case has now been assigned to Magistrate Judge James Sickel for mediation, with a hearing set for mid-March.
Flatoff was sentenced to 100 years in prison for his actions.
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