The D.C. Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that the city must pay a psychologist $450,000 after he was improperly arrested and detained for his involvement in a road-rage-fueled fender bender with an off-duty police officer.
Steven Tulin was driving his Porsche in Columbia Heights in 2004 when he was rear-ended by off-duty Det. Barbara Rauf, who was driving her son to school in a Honda.
The cause of the crash is in dispute, with both sides alleging aggressive driving by the other driver. “It is undisputed, however, that after some less-than-friendly looks and gestures by both drivers” Rauf’s car collided with Tulin’s, court records show.
After the crash Rauf and Tulin had a “hostile interaction,” with Rauf using a lot of profanity because of her self-described high “level of pissitivity,” according to court records.
Rauf made two priority calls asking for police assistance after the crash, court records show. Several officers arrived at the scene, Tulin was arrested on a charge of reckless driving and taken to jail.
His lawyer, Gregory Lattimer, said Tulin was held because Rauf wanted to humiliate him as retribution for the crash. Tulin spent 14 hours in jail, court records show.
Rauf could not be reached for comment. A police spokesman said Rauf is not currently listed as a city employee.
In court records, Rauf said she believed Tulin caused the crash because he wanted to file a lawsuit against her.
“So, he wanted you to run into his $120,000 Porsche so he could get a lawsuit?” Lattimer asked at trial.
“Sure, that is my belief,” Rauf answered, court records show.
Tulin was found not guilty on the reckless driving charge.
The appeals court upheld a jury’s award of $450,000 for Tulin, noting that the police officer who arrested Tulin did not properly investigate the cause of the crash but instead was pressured by Rauf to make an arrest.
Lattimer said the message of the ruling was the police officers can’t abuse their position to settle personal scores.
“Just because you happen to be a police officer, you are not above the law,” he said.
D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles declined to comment on the case.
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