St. Louis - A federal jury awarded $91,000 on Thursday to a man who said St. Louis police officers beat him while he tried to sell T-shirts near Busch Stadium during a Cardinals game in 2005.

Patrick Lingo, 30, said several officers working security for the St. Louis Cardinals took him to a police substation in the stadium and accused him of selling without a vendors license.

Lingo testified that the officers used excessive force during an interrogation — beating, slapping and strip-searching him. One choked him around the neck, leaving bruises, he said. The officers booked Lingo into the city jail, where a nurse noted the bruising, according to testimony.

Police issued an ordinance violation summons for operating without a vendors license, which was eventually dropped, said Tony M. Pezzani, Lingo's lawyer.

Lingo filed suit in 2006 against Officers Steve M. Burle, Frederick Stith and James Welby. He also sued SLC Holdings, which owns the Cardinals, and Joseph Walsh, its director of security.

The jury found that the officers used excessive force and falsely imprisoned Lingo, violating his civil rights. They awarded $25,000 in actual damages and $66,000 in punitive damages, spread among all the defendants.

A police spokesman said no official complaint was ever filed against the officers, and they remain on the force.