East Point (GA.) Settles Wrongful Death Suit for $1 Million: Cops Tortured Handcuffed Black Man - Tasering him at Least 14 Times in Creek
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From [HERE] and [MORE] Last week a $1 million settlement was reached in Georgia in a Taser death suit. The Black man who the civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of, Gregory Towns, died after East Point police shocked him with a Taser. His family's lawyers negotiated the settlement by taking East Point's insurance company to the city's policy limits, which is $1MM. East Point's city insurer settled the case, covering the city of East Point as well as the two officers involved. The case was settled for the full maximum available, resulting in a $1MM settlement for the victim's family.
The 24-year-old man died following an arrest in which the police used Taser devices on him up to 13 times, according to the wrongful-death suit against the Atlanta suburb of East Point and two of its former officers.
The family of Gregory L. Towns Jr., who was arrested on April 11 after he fled on foot from officers who wanted to question him about a domestic dispute, said in the lawsuit that police officers in East Point had “acted with malice and a deliberate intent to cause grievous bodily injury, pain and death” to Mr. Towns.
The lawsuit contended that officers abused and eventually killed a handcuffed Mr. Towns after his arrest by using Taser devices on him up to 13 times in a 29-minute period. Towns, who weighed over 300 lbs was exhausted after the foot chase by police. Nevertheless, cops insisted that quickly comply with their commands to quickly walk to a police cruiser after he was arrested and placed in handcuffs. Towns also did not have any pants on. It is not clear whether the cops took them off or not.
The lawsuit charges that Weems and Eberhart violated the East Point police department’s stun gun policy, which says stun guns should not be used on anyone who is handcuffed, nor should be used to escort or prod someone, nor should be used on someone passively resisting police.
The episode began when the police wanted to speak with Mr. Towns about a domestic dispute and he tried to elude officers. The authorities apprehended Mr. Towns after a chase they said stretched nearly a mile, and Mr. Towns, saying the pursuit had exhausted him, said he was unable to walk immediately to a police car.
Corporal Weems said in a report that Mr. Towns did not “display any distress,” and that he warned Mr. Towns that he would use his Taser device if he did not obey instructions from officers. Police officers acknowledged in written statements that Mr. Towns, who was handcuffed in a creek for much of the time in dispute, was ultimately shocked multiple times.
Police records cited in the lawsuit indicate the officers used their Taser devices up to 14 times, including at least one instance when an officer activated his Taser as a warning to compel Mr. Towns to cooperate. (Lawyers representing the family conceded that they did not know exactly how many times Mr. Towns had been shocked, but they said the 14 uses of the Taser devices collectively amounted to more than a minute of actual or threatened electrical stimulation.)
A Fulton County medical examiner listed the cause of death in a May report as hypertensive cardiovascular disease that had been aggravated by “conducted electrical stimulation” and strenuous physical activity.
Sergeant Eberhart, who resigned after Mr. Towns’s death, could not be reached on Thursday, and a lawyer for Corporal Weems, who was fired and is appealing his dismissal, declined to comment.
