ORANGE COUNTY, Kalifornia (PNN) - May 6, 2010 - Orange County has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging a sheriff's deputy used excessive force when he tackled a Laguna Niguel man and his mother, who were hugging in the street.

The tackle was captured on a grainy Orange County Sheriff's Department video in the early morning hours of New Year's Day, 2006. The tape showed two deputies brawling with neighbors nearby, as Gabriel Celli and his mother embraced.

That's when a police car pulled up and Deputy Jason Perez jumped out of the car, rushed toward the mother and son, and tackled them, the video shows. Then the deputy repeatedly punched her son, according to a 2008 story by Orange County Register reporter Rachanee Srisavasdi.

Celli was later acquitted of resisting arrest charges. He and his mother sued the county for $10 million. This $200,000 settlement resolves his claim.

Celli's lawyer, civil rights attorney Jerry Lawrence Steering, was in court when The Watchdog called and could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, sheriff's spokesman Ryan Burris said an internal investigation of the incident found no wrongdoing. Then in November, the department conducted an additional review in which all of the deputies involved, executive staff, county counsel and the Office of Independent Review went over all the facts.

Such reviews are now required for any case involving a settlement over $50,000. But if Celli's incident happened today, that critical review also would have been done immediately under a new policy by Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, said Burris.

"The goal is to see what can be done better next time," Burris said.