Phoenix approved a $100,000 settlement for a former Wall Street Journal reporter in connection with a 2022 incident in which he was handcuffed and detained outside a Chase Bank in north Phoenix.
Dion Rabouin, then a finance reporter for the Journal, was conducting brief interviews with people outside the bank for a story on savings accounts on Nov. 23, 2022, when Phoenix police Officer Caleb Zimmerman approached him about a trespassing call a bank employee had placed.
A recording of that call was obtained by The Arizona Republic.
"I have somebody that's been harassing clients outside, and asking them personal information, and we've asked them to leave the premises, and he refuses," the caller says in the recording. "Is there a way I could have an officer
come out and escort him off premises?"
Police detained Rabouin and submitted a trespass notice but never charged him.
Benjamin Taylor, an Arizona attorney representing Rabouin, said the settlement was an important step in making his client whole.
"Mr. Rabouin was exercising his First Amendment rights as a journalist when he was detained, and the events that followed were both unnecessary and traumatic," Taylor said. "We appreciate the city of Phoenix's decision to settle this case and bring this matter to a resolution."
A settlement of up to $100,000 was approved by the Phoenix City Council on Sept. 9. Taylor confirmed the amount.
Handcuffs come out despite offer to leave
In a video taken of the incident by a citizen, Rabouin told police officers that no one had informed him to leave, but he would have left if given a chance. The video showed Rabouin continuously repeating that he would leave.
Zimmerman wrote that Rabouin did not provide ID, and the officer told him he was trespassing, according to a police report.
The officer said he had spoken with an employee at the bank and was told that the bank was willing to “aid in prosecution if Dion was unwilling to leave,” and wanted Rabouin removed from the property, the report said.
Body camera footage obtained by The Republic also showed Zimmerman putting Rabouin in handcuffs immediately after Rabouin agreed to leave, saying, “I will leave. I will walk away voluntarily.”
Zimmerman then pressed Rabouin into the back seat of his patrol SUV and pulled Rabouin’s ID from his pants, footage showed.
Eventually, two other police officers arrived and were seen watching over Rabouin as Zimmerman wrote a trespassing notice. The citizen recording the encounter tried to stay close but was told by an officer to step back, citing a defunct Arizona law deemed unconstitutional in September 2022.
Minutes later, Zimmerman uncuffed Rabouin and let him go.
The Office of Accountability and Transparency determined that the department disciplined Zimmerman under the wrong policy, leading to a less severe punishment, and that Zimmerman completed two training courses in two hours when the courses should have taken six.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Chase Bank officials personally apologized to Rabouin for the incident.
Republic reporter Miguel Torres contributed to this article.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@arizonarepublic.com or 480-341-9433.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ex-WSJ reporter detained by Phoenix police settles complaint for $100K
