The family of a deceased man is taking legal action after a fatal Tasing incident. The Ohio family is bringing a wrongful death suit as well as a federal civil rights suit against Hamilton County, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department and the specific deputies that were involved in the incident. The suit claims that the deputies acted "unreasonably" during the situation.
The situation occurred one year ago after the police were called to a residence. The neighbor claimed that the man had broken out one of the windows in her townhome. The details of the investigation are unclear, but the police eventually encountered the man. It is not clear why, but he was Tased six times, which killed him.
The man’s family claims that he had a mental health issue, and they believe that he was experiencing an emergency relating to his mental health issue at the time he was Tased. The family believes that improper Taser use, failure to train and failure to implement proper policies when encountering mentally ill citizens are to blame for the event. Even though the county has developed recently improved Taser policies, the family hopes that their situation may further those improvements, especially when a person is having a mental health emergency.
The Ohio family has been forced to spend the last year mourning the loss of their loved due to this Taser incident. If their wrongful death suit is successful, they could receive monetary reimbursement for damages such as funeral costs. A successful suit might also bring them some peace of mind, knowing that justice for their loved one was truly done.
Source: wksu.org, “Ohio family sues when man dies after tasing during a medical emergency“, Tana Weingartner, Aug. 11, 2014
Source: wksu.org, “Ohio family sues when man dies after tasing during a medical emergency“, Tana Weingartner, Aug. 11, 2014