The three children of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New York woman who accidentally strangled herself while in custody in Phoenix after an airport outburst, will receive $250,000 under a proposed settlement, a source close to the case said.
The $250,000 figure — which still requires the approval of a New York court — is much less than the $5.5 million legal claim that Gotbaum’s estate and kids originally filed against the city of Phoenix, its police department and officers involved in arresting her in September 2007 in the city’s airport.
The 45-year-old Gotbaum — the stepdaughter-in-law of New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum — had flown to Phoenix on her way to enter an alcohol-rehab center in Tucson.
Gotbaum began drinking heavily at an airport bar after missing a connecting flight and became extremely upset after being bumped from a later one. She dropped to the floor and threw her Blackberry before running along the concourse and yelling that she was “not a terrorist,” court papers state.
Police at the airport confronted her, slapped handcuffs on her and took her to a holding cell.
While in that cell — unobserved by officers — Gotbaum accidentally strangled herself while twisting her body.
Arizona prosecutors decided that police broke no laws.
But Gotbaum’s estate and her three children — Ella, Nathaniel and Tobias, all under the age of 10 — last year filed a suit claiming the cops had been negligent and violated Gotbaum’s constitutional rights by arresting her.
Sealed petitions seeking approval for the settlement were filed Oct. 9 in New York Surrogate’s Court, which needs to OK the deal because Gotbaum’s children are minors, the source said.
Lawyers for the city of Phoenix, the police department and police officers did not respond to requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Dareh Gregorian