The city of Tucson has reached a $30,000 settlement with the mother and daughter who were involved in a physical confrontation with an off-duty Tucson police officer in the parking lot of a midtown restaurant last November.
According to a statement from the City Attorney’s Office, Michelle Aloisi, 61, and Brittany Aloisi-Wiles, 39, received $15,000 each after they filed a Notice of Claim seeking damages arising out of the incident that happened at the Culinary Dropout parking lot.
“Under Arizona law, a Notice of Claim is a necessary precursor to a lawsuit against a city or a public employee, and it provides an opportunity for the city to evaluate claims prior to the start of litigation,” the statement said. “In this instance, the city and the claimants negotiated a settlement under which the city paid each claimant $15,000, and the claimants released the city and any of its employees from any further claims or lawsuits. The agreement provides that the settlement is not an admission or acknowledgment of fault or liability by any party, and it resolves the matter without the costs, time and risk of litigation.”
Officer Robert Szewleski was also disciplined with a major misconduct 20-hour suspension following the incident, a Tucson Police Department spokesman said.
“I don’t feel that there was enough accountability on the part of Officer Szewleski,” Aloisi’s daughter, Nicole Whitted said. “A 20-hour suspension just doesn’t seem enough to fit the magnitude of what he did to my sister and my mother.”
On Nov. 14, 2021, Aloisi, Aloisi-Wiles and Whitted were walking from the restaurant to their car as the Szelewski family arrived in the parking lot in their truck. An argument ensued, resulting in a physical confrontation that led Szelewski to physically restrain Aloisi and Aloisi-Wiles, while Whitted videotaped the incident.
Aloisi-Wiles, who was seen being restrained by Szelewski by kneeling on her neck, was cited for a misdemeanor for disorderly conduct. Those charges were dropped as part of the settlement, Whitted said.
Six months after the incident, the Pima County Attorney’s Office announced that no criminal charges would be filed against Szelewski.
“Right when everything started, we retained an attorney for possible civil litigation, and when the Pima County Attorney’s Office didn’t press charges, that was really when we knew we were moving forward with that,” Whitted said. “I was very disappointed that they didn’t press charges against him. I spent hours and hours and days and days of watching all the footage, watching body cam footage, listening to interviews, and it’s difficult for me to understand why they didn’t bring charges against him.”
Whitted said they initially came forward and released video footage of the incident because they wanted accountability on both Szelewski’s and TPD’s part.
“It was never about the money, per se, it was about change coming about and making Officer Szelewski and the Tucson Police Department accountable for their actions,” Aloisi said.
Prior to the parking lot incident, Szelewski, who was hired in June 2004, served two suspensions — 40 and 10 hours — during his first three years on the job, the Arizona Daily Star’s Tim Steller previously reported.
The longest was for misusing his firearm. When a fellow officer shined a flashlight at him, Szelewski pointed his gun at the colleague and lit him up with the gun’s light, Steller reported. The other was for wrongly detaining a juvenile in a closed room.
Szelewski has also received complaints from people claiming he was rude and unnecessarily aggressive, Steller reported.
Aloisi commended Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar for taking the incident seriously, saying he has tripled mental health resources at TPD and mandated staff training.
“It’s going to be a long road,” Aloisi said. “We wish it had gotten farther, but I feel changes being made, and I guess it’s baby steps to get it done. Hopefully no one else gets hurt in the process.”
After seeing a recent interview with Kasmar, Whitted also believed he is taking accountability for his officers and is making positive changes to the department when it comes to mental health help.
After nearly a year since the incident happened, both Aloisi and Whitted feel a sense of relief that the case is over, and they can finally move on.
“I felt like we all kind of have to move on,” Aloisi said. “I myself have been receiving some therapy to deal with it. I have some trust issues now and a fear and anxiety that I never had before, so that has been very troubling. Other than that, I’m glad there is change and that hopefully can continue, and the community and the police department can form a better, more trusting bond with each other.”
