GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) -- Ottawa County and a sheriff's deputy have reached a settlement with a Grand Valley State University student accidentally shot during a drug raid at his off-campus apartment.
Attorneys issued a joint statement Tuesday on the settlement reached in the shooting of Derek Copp. They say financial details of the settlement are confidential.
On March 11, 2009 deputies were raiding an Allendale apartment, where detectives had earlier bought marijuana in an undercover operation. As the officers entered the unit, Deputy Ryan Huizenga confronted Copp at a sliding door and accidentally shot the student in the chest.
Huizenga was charged with careless discharge of a firearm, causing injury. He later pleaded to a lesser charge and served six months of probation.
Copp, who was not the target of the drug sting, recovered from his injuries and later pleaded to a lesser drug charge.
In the settlement, neither Sheriff Gary Rosema nor Dep. Huizenga admit any fault or liability. But the county is agreeing to a financial settlement to help cover some of Copp's medical bills and to compensate him for "pain and suffering and unwanted publicity."
According to the joint statement, "the parties agreed that their interests would be best served by putting the unfortunate incident behind them without further conflict."
Copp filed his suit against Ottawa County, Sheriff Rosema and Dep. Huizenga last March.