Student Gets $212,500 Settlement Over Arrest For Buying Bottled Water

A college student who says she fled in terror
when undercover officers who thought she
had illegally bought beer swarmed her SUV
has reached a $212,500 settlement with the
state of Virginia.
Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced
the settlement Wednesday night with
Elizabeth Daly, who had filed a $40 million
federal lawsuit against agents with the state
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
The lawsuit said Daly had bought a carton of
sparkling water at a supermarket in April
2013, which the agents mistook for beer. She
said that the badges around the agents’
necks were not clearly visible, and that the
agents did not identify themselves as
officers.
The agents banged on the sport utility
vehicle and demanded that she open the
window and not start the engine. One tried
to break the window with a flashlight, and
after another officer pulled a gun, one of
Daly’s two passengers shouted that the
badges were fake and implored the driver to
“go, go, go,” according to the lawsuit.
Daly was charged with eluding police and
assaulting a police officer after her SUV
grazed two of the agents. The arrest
provoked a public outcry, and the charges
were dropped.
Herring said the settlement was not an
admission of wrongdoing by any of the
parties in the lawsuit.
“My goal throughout this case has been to
reach a resolution that is just and fair for all
parties, including Ms. Daly, the ABC and its
agents, and the Commonwealth and its
taxpayers,” Herring said. “After careful
consideration of the potentially significant
costs of taking this case to trial, I believe we
have reached such an outcome.”
Daly’s attorney, James B. Thorsen, didn’t
immediately return a telephone message left
at his Richmond office Thursday morning.