Grant County pays settlement after botched arrest

JOHN DAY, Ore. (AP) - A Grant County man who spent a night in jail after he was wrongly arrested received a $12,000 settlement after threatening to sue.

A deputy arrested the man for initiating a false report after he called to report gunfire. The district attorney, however, decided not to prosecute the man after learning another neighbor also heard shots.

The apparent gunfire had come from direction of property owned by relatives of the investigating deputy.

The man's attorney alleged the deputy arrested her client in an effort to hide that his relatives were allowing their children to have access to firearms while home alone.

Sheriff Glenn Palmer and the deputy who has since been promoted to undersheriff didn't return phone messages or respond to written questions.