PORTLAND – Two detectives accused of beating a handcuffed suspect after a high-speed chase were acquitted of all charges Friday in a case that drew more attention to the Portland Police Department.

Lawyers for Patrick DeCourcey and Brian Regan had hammered away at the credibility of victim Michael Esposito, and one of them derided his claim that he was assaulted in the back of a police van as a “fantastic tale.”

“Why would Esposito make it up? Oh, I don’t know, 4.8 million reasons perhaps?” said DeCourcey’s lawyer, Richard Berne, referring to the civil lawsuit filed by Esposito’s lawyers in federal court.

Jurors who weighed the credibility of an admitted drug abuser against two veteran law enforcement officers returned their verdicts after two hours of deliberations in Cumberland County Superior Court.

There was much at stake, including the reputation of the Portland Police Department, which is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. A series of brutality complaints have led to two jury verdicts against the department in civil trials and a $600,000 settlement in another case, the largest such payout in the city’s history.

But the acquittals don’t spell an end to the troubles for the officers, who have been on unpaid leave, or the department.

The city, its police department, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and a total of six officers including DeCourcey and Regan were named in a $4.8 million lawsuit filed by Esposito’s lawyers last month. The detectives’ acquittals won’t stop Esposito’s lawsuit, which will proceed in U.S. District Court.