By KRWG News
Alamogordo – Alamogordo paid a Holloman Air Force Base sergeant $21,000 after he alleged the city violated his right against unreasonable search and seizure when police removed him from a theater for wearing a gun.
Matthew St. John's attorney, Miguel Garcia, says the settlement pays damages and legal fees.
Federal court records say St. John went to a theater June 27, 2008, and another patron complained he was wearing a gun.
Records say police removed St. John from the theater, questioned him and ran a check on his handgun before returning it.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Black ruled the search was unreasonable because there was no suspicion St. John committed a crime.
But the judge denied St. John's claim for false arrest and battery.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.