Jury awards $150K to passenger in Thornwood car shooting

A jury has awarded $150,000 to the passenger in a car that a Pleasantville police officer fired upon in October 2010.
Desmond Hines sued former officer Aaron Hess after the latter fatally shot Pace University football player Danroy "DJ" Henry outside a Thornwood bar.
Hines was a backseat passenger in the car Henry was driving. The two were teammates.
Hess's attorney Brian Sokoloff says he believes his client acted properly during the altercation and that the jurors were likely moved by sympathy for Hines.
Hess was injured in the incident when Henry slammed into him and knocked up onto the hood of the car -- shattering the officer's knee before the shooting.
The former officer never returned to work after the injury. Earlier litigation cleared him of any wrongdoing, and no criminal charges were filed against him.
"He's a victim as much as anybody else there that night," Sokoloff says. He plans to file a motion to set the decision aside and may possibly appeal.
But Henry's family received several million dollars in civil settlements after the shooting.
An attorney for Hines did not respond to News 12's request for comment.