SLP Man Awarded $125k After Bar Brawl With Off-Duty Cop

A St. Louis Park man was awarded $125,000 by a federal jury after alleging in a lawsuit that an off-duty Minneapolis police officer punched him in the head and kicked him in the face.

The jury agreed with Jeremy Axel, an IT salesman, that Michael Griffin used "excessive force" during the 2011 altercation in downtown Minneapolis, according to the Star Tribune. Two other claims, of battery and false imprisonment, were dismissed by the jury.

Griffin is also the subject of a second lawsuit for a 2010 incident in which he allegedly knocked out a man outside downtown bar.

Griffin—a seven-year veteran of the force who was awarded the Medal of Valor in 2013 for his response to the Accent Signage shooting—is the target of an internal affairs investigation, the Star Tribune reported.

According to Axel's lawsuit:

On Nov. 4, 2011, Axel and two friends were dining at the Loop Bar and Restaurant, in the Warehouse District. 

Axel and Griffin argued about seating and Griffin told Axel he was going to "call his boys to come [expletive] you up," according to the lawsuit.

After paying their check, two of Axel's friends were stopped on the street by Minneapolis police officer William Gregory.

Griffin then hit one of Axel's friends and, when Axel went to check on him, punched Axel in the head, knocking him out, according to the lawsuit. Griffin then picked up Axel's unconscious body and kicked him in the face.

Axel was concussed and spent the night at the Hennepin County Medical Center, his lawyer told the Star Tribune. He needed to have several teeth replaced and missed at least three days of work.