Phoenix Offers Settlement in Airport Death

(CBS)  Phoenix has proposed a $250,000 settlement to the family of a New York City woman who accidentally strangled herself while in police custody two years ago at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

In a statement Monday, the Phoenix Police Department maintained its officers acted properly and acknowledged that the offer is just a fraction of the original $8 million negligence claim sought by Carol Ann Gotbaum's three young children.

City officials said no taxpayer money will be spent on the settlement, which still needs to be approved by a New York court.

Gotbaum, 45, was the step-daughter-in-law of outgoing New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.

Gotbaum's husband, Noah Gotbaum, said in a statement Monday that pursuing litigation was not in the best interest of the children or of his wife's memory.

While the family agreed to settle, he said "this does not represent an end to our deep concern about how the law enforcement community and we as a society treat people who suffer from issues of alcoholism, mental illness and emotional distress. We need to have that dialogue."

Authorities said Carol Gotbaum was intoxicated and unruly after missing her connecting flight while heading to a substance-abuse rehabilitation clinic in Tucson on Sept. 28, 2007.

After a gate agent told her that she couldn't use another passenger's boarding pass to get on a flight because of security reasons, she threw her cellphone and ran through the airport screaming she wasn't a terrorist.

Police confronted and arrested Gotbaum. But minutes after she was put in a holding cell, she died.

Authorities said Gotbaum accidentally asphyxiated herself after being chained to a bench in a police holding room and that officers didn't know she suffered from alcoholism and depression.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that Gotbaum, who was taking antidepressants, accidentally strangled herself with her shackles.

[poochie44]

Gotbaum got bombed and it's everyone elses fault.

[Fynack]

Of course ... its always someone elses fault ... people can act like idiots just not around me ... blah blah blah

[mtcolquitt]

If I remember correctly, the Number 1 question was: Why was this unstable woman traveling ALONE Mr. Husband????

[Zowwyy]

They shouldn't have paid them a penny..

[stuart-johns2]

by Phxfire October 20, 2009 4:21 AM EDT
If you don't have all the information then perhaps you should refrain from commenting

================

That's funny coming from you. See what I mean:

by stuart-johns2 October 19, 2009 9:58 PM EDT
Well just how long was that "chain" they secured her with? And if she was attached to a chain, would'nt she have been handcuffed behind her back? And would that chain be long enough for her to strangle herself with? Hmmmmmmm


by Phxfire October 20, 2009 4:27 AM EDT
She wasn't chained, she was handcuffed for her own protection. She was out-of=control.

My response was to post the statement from the article.

"Authorities said Gotbaum accidentally asphyxiated herself after being chained to a bench..."

It seems you need to take your own admonition and advice.

[andie52]

This is an unnecessary death and she never should have been traveling alone in her fragile mental and physical condition. Where the heck was her husband; family etc.????

[antoniof123]

Don't blame the family or the husband this was the fault of the cops they should not have left her alone PERIOD. Either arrest her or let her go no charges or is that what we became along with warrentless wiretaps and gitmo torture.

I guess you think those are okay too.

[endurorob_5]

So this woman was an alcoholic and was drunk and behaving badly so she was apprehended and put in a holding cell. While in the cell she somehow manages to kill herself and the police are at fault. I think not. This is just another example of people not being heald responsible for their own actions.

[Harden_Tar]

Tragic accident? Yes. Police's fault? No way. She was going to rehab and got wasted on the way? Where the H E L L was the family? Send your addict alone on a plane to rehab? That seems a bit irresponsible. Sorry your are dead, but your family is stupid.

[Hosheen]

How does you "accidentally strangle" yourself with "shackles" when I am certain that the Phoenix police used handcuffs. In fact the standard police procedure everywhere that I know of is to handcuff people to a bench when first arrested. Shackles with an extended piece of chain are used on legs, never on wrists, and then only when transporting prisoners between facilities such as to court. I say this as someone who has trained police officers in Arizona. So someone is lying and using misleading terms.

[stuart-johns2]

That was my hunch. Someting does'nt add up or it is just poor reporting.

[dahizzle]

This nut-case was an accident waiting to happen. Her family can't expect the rest of the world to babysit her. Someone should have been accompanying her on her trip. She thought she was above the law and when she found out she wasn't, she threw a tantrum (her last). Natural selection at it's finest.

[bullwinkle64]

If you're the police you can kill all the poor, addicted and mentally ill you want, but first take the time to find out their name, to make sure you won't subject yourselves to lawsuits.

[gramto8]

For a family that couldn't be bothered to accompany the person on her journey to rehab, they sure as heck didn't take long getting to an attorney's office to file suit! Suing was being bandied about within hours of the incident. Shame on the family for abandoning her and then using her death to enrich themselves.