A Philadelphia woman who received a $300,000 settlement from the city after claiming she was falsely arrested in a road rage case was sentenced on Friday to three to 12 months behind bars and five years probation for a wrong-way, DUI collision.
(Video: YouTube)
Khasandra Franklin, 27, made headlines in September 2020 for allegedly trying to run Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci off the road, ABC News reported in May.
Stipulating that Franklin must undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation in a DUI case out of Hatboro that was pending at the time, prosecutors withdrew the charges.
Franklin then sued the city, alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution, and assault and battery at the hands of authorities. Philadelphia settled the case for $300,000.
“[J]ust a week after filing her civil suit against the city, Franklin was charged in a hit-and-run accident in Abington,” according to ABC News. “She pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and to the first DUI after receiving her settlement” just 85 days after the lawsuit was served.
The payout “was the city’s fourth largest for police assault and battery settlements over the past six years” and “more than five times the average settlement of $56,000,” the outlet’s Action News Investigative Team found. The average time for a case settlement, ABC News found, was typically around two years.
Given Franklin’s driving record, City Council President Darrell Clarke raised concerns about city settlements. According to City Solicitor Diana Cortes, the need to settle cases comes down to manpower.
“If there is more investment in more attorneys then I think there would be a lesser caseload for each attorney,” she said at the time.
Her wrong-way crash in September totaled Dee Ruffin Coates’ car, causing the victim neck and back injuries.
“‘You’re coming the wrong way on the interstate,'” Ruffin Coates told Franklin. “I’m like, ‘You’re going westbound on the eastbound side.’ I said, ‘What’s wrong with you?'”
Franklin immediately threatened the arresting officers with a lawsuit.
“I am calling internal affairs right now, that’s how I won last time. Google me. Khasandra Franklin,” Franklin fumed. “Sued every last part of Philadelphia under Krasner. I sued all of you and won.”
As Franklin prepares for up to a year in jail, ABC News obtained the video of Franklin’s arrest.
(Video: ABC News)
“You’re going to jail,” the officer can be heard telling Franklin.
“I gotta good lawyer,” she stated.
“I know my f***ing rights,” she shouted. “I’ll sue all of y’all.”
Meanwhile, as BizPac Review has reported, the City of Brotherly Love is continuing to devolve into a hellish haven for drug addicts and homeless people.
Former addict says Philadelphia businesses are setting up booby traps to combat open-air drug market https://t.co/b3RRf62JaK via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 17, 2023
The open-air drug market has gotten so bad that businesses have been forced to “booby trap” their entrances to keep the addicts”off of their stoops,” according to one former drug addict.
“They have to set up these crazy little hacks and booby traps just to keep people off of their stoops,” Frank Rodriguez told Fox News Digital. “There are businesses that set up sprinkler systems, so they can just be inside and hit a button and the sprinkler system goes off.”
Homeless addicts, hopped up on the potent drug Xylazine, more commonly known as “tranq,” roam the city’s devastated Kensington neighborhood like something out of “The Walking Dead.”
“The businesses don’t last long. When they are put in the community, the community tends to tear them down,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not a place for anything to thrive.”
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