Lawyers: $6.5 million to settle false arrest claim

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lawyers say a $6.5 million settlement has been reached with the widow of a former Ohio State football star who says police used excessive force arresting her late husband.

Jim Stillwagon, who died last year, was captain of the school’s 1968 national championship team. He was acquitted in 2013 of criminal charges stemming from a September 2012 road rage incident in Delaware in central Ohio.

Stillwagon’s widow, Effie, alleged in a lawsuit that Delaware police altered facts and suppressed and destroyed evidence to pursue their investigation.

Federal courts upheld most of her claims, and on Thursday her attorneys announced the settlement.

Delaware officials say they aren’t admitting to police wrongdoing in agreeing to settle because of litigation costs, “the risk of exposure,” and on attorneys’ advice.

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The Associated Press