DANVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — The City of Danville has settled a lawsuit with John Hardwick in regards to his wrongful arrest at a Danville Walmart by Danville Police officers in October of 2025. The amount of the settlement is not being disclosed at this time.
Notably, John Hardwick died on February 11 at his home with his wife, Cindy, and family by his side, according to his attorney Ephraim Helton.
The department reportedly agreed to a change in policy, noting that officers will be trained on how to interact with people of diminish capacity and diseases like dementia.
"So there's going to be a change in policy that will be adopted by the police department. A model police policy concerning interactions with people of diminished capacity, especially those with dementia," explains Hardwick's attorney, Ephraim Helton. "The city has also agreed to training. They've agreed that they will send their employees to crisis intervention training at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice."
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"I've been the cities worst critic for the last 14, 15 months. And I love my community. And I was proud yesterday, I believed they stepped up. I believe Mayor Atkins stepped up and did the right thing by helping to facilitate this settlement," said Helton. "The mediator said. Going to the press, exposing it, and getting the transparency. If you all hadn't done that, we wouldn't have landed monetarily where we did, nor do I think we would have had the policy and training."
The Mayor of Danville James "J.H." Atkins released a public apology to Hardwicks family and the community.
Read the full statement from Atkins below.
