Wednesday, May 07, 2008

A bargain for the LPD

I guess we now know the exact price tag for the life of a private citizen tasered to death by an incompetent, trigger-happy cop:

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Lubbock officials have agreed to pay a $49,000 settlement to the family of domestic violence suspect who died in Lubbock police custody.

Juan Nunez III died after a police officer stunned him in the chest several times with a Taser stun gun in 2006. The city says doesn’t admit liability by reaching the settlement
agreement in the Nunez family’s suit.

The lawsuit accused Lubbock police of not establishing adequate policies for stun gun use and failing to train officers properly to use the devices. In the suit, the family alleged Officer Matt Doherty used excessive force and violated the man’s civil rights.

Doherty responded to a 911 hang-up call on April 16, 2006, and found a domestic dispute between Nunez and his family. According to police reports, Nunez became violent, leading Doherty to stun him in the chest four times with the Taser gun in less than a minute.

Nunez fell backward and struck his head. A medical examiner’s report said the Taser shocks, the blow to the head and alcohol killed Nunez.
Nice to know it's in the low five-figures.

[Note to the sarcasm-impaired: the above is the same, and bitter. This is what happens when you recruit cops who like being authoritarian.]

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