Federal Jury Awards $1.6 Million to ATF Agent Tased by Columbus Police

On July 7, 2020, James Burk, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, went to a home in Dublin, Ohio, in the Columbus area to recover an illegally held firearm. The woman who answered the door doubted that he was a federal agent. She called 911 and reported a possible burglary and someone impersonating police. Officers Joseph Fihe and Kevin Winchell were dispatched.

Body camera footage showed the officers arrive with their weapons drawn within seconds. Burk identified himself as an ATF agent and tried to explain why he was there. The officers ordered him to the ground, took him down, and tased him repeatedly before cuffing him and locking him in the back of a cruiser. They restrained him before confirming his credentials. Burk was left with physical injuries and post-traumatic stress.

Burk and his wife sued the city and the two officers in December 2020, filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Cooper Elliott attorneys Rex Elliott and Barton Keyes represented the couple. The case was captioned Burk v. City of Columbus, docket 2:20-cv-06256.

The trial ran about two weeks in November 2024. The firm walked jurors through the body camera video and argued that the officers violated Burk's constitutional rights by using force and detaining him without cause, even after he told them he worked for the ATF. They presented evidence tying his PTSD, mental anguish, and physical pain to the arrest.

The jury found Fihe and Winchell liable for excessive force and unlawful detention. It awarded Burk and his wife a combined $1.6 million, and the jurors specifically attributed the PTSD to the officers' conduct.

The city appealed the verdict. Rather than litigate further, the parties reached a settlement, and in February 2025 Columbus City Council approved a $1.8 million payment covering the award along with attorney fees and interest. The jury award was not reduced. Burk medically retired from the ATF because of injuries from the encounter.