A friend of mine was hit BY a cop car in 1999. She was riding on a sidewalk downtown (a posted no-no) and failed to yield at a blind alley-way (doubleplus-ungood no-no) where the collision occurred. The cop gave her a ticket for riding on a sidewalk, failure to yield, and never sought medical attention for her injuries after she fell off her bike. She took the city to court for medical bills and to have the citations dropped. She was reimbursed the medical costs but the traffic violations still stood.
What's my point? Well, I don't know either. Maybe a small victory is better than nothing. Hopefully your buddy has good luck with the civil stuff!