$1.1 Million Settlement in Teen's Death

The city of Alexandria agreed yesterday to pay $1.1 million to Jeff and Cheryl Brown, whose only son, Aaron, was shot and killed last year by an off-duty police officer after Aaron and five friends dashed out of an International House of Pancakes without paying their $26 bill.

"We regret very much what happened to Aaron Brown," City Manager James K. Hartmann said in a statement. "We hope this settlement helps the Brown family achieve some measure of healing."

The settlement is the result of a voluntary mediation.

"No amount of money could be adequate to replace our son," the Browns said in a statement. They plan to use the settlement to honor his memory by donating some of the money to the Virginia chapter of Guitars Not Guns they helped start.

Aaron Brown was an Eagle Scout with waist-length brown hair. His family remembers a happy-go-lucky guy with a huge jack-o-lantern grin who could play everything from Hank Williams country to the theme song of "SpongeBob SquarePants" to Bach to heavy metal on his electric guitar.

In the early morning of Feb. 25, 2006, Brown, 18, was sitting in the left rear passenger seat of a friend's sport-utility vehicle after leaving the IHOP when another friend jumped in the SUV and urged the driver to "go, go, go, go" because of the unpaid bill.

Officer Carl Stowe, who was moonlighting as an IHOP security guard, said he put his hand up to stop the vehicle. When it appeared that the SUV was coming straight at him and that his life was in danger, Stowe said, he began to fire. Six shots. Three seconds.

The third shot struck Brown's upper left arm, went into his chest and pierced his lung and heart. By the time paramedics arrived on the scene, he was dead.

Brown's death has led to changes in Alexandria police policy that make clear that officers should not fire at moving vehicles. Officers are now also prohibited from standing in front of moving vehicles, unless directing traffic.

Commonwealth's Attorney S. Randolph Sengel made public his 54-page report exonerating Stowe. Police Chief David P. Baker met with the Browns and apologized for what he called "one of the most tragic cases I have encountered in my 36 years of law enforcement."