by Lee McGuire / 11News

Settling a lawsuit concerning two 2002 crackdowns on illegal drag-racing will cost taxpayers $731,617.

Today the Houston City Council approved a settlement agreement between the Houston Police Department and two groups of teenagers. In a lawsuit, the teens claim they were detained and arrested in violation of their civil rights.

In August, 2002, HPD conducted "Operation ERACER," intended to discourage drag-racing by arresting spectators as well as participants. In two raids, police detained and arrested 101 people, mostly teenagers, in a K-Mart parking lot in the 8500 block of Westheimer.

The teens spent several hours detained in the parking lot, then were booked into jail. Several of the teens later alleged that they were merely shopping at the K-Mart, or eating dinner with their parents, when they were detained and arrested without cause. Others told 11News at the time that their parents spent hours searching for them, not knowing they were in jail.

Under the settlement, each of the 101 teenagers will get between $2,500 and $5,000, and it awards several hundred thousand dollars in attorneys' fees.

For details on the settlement, see the attached .tif file

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