A Detroit family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Warren police and the city after their son died of sudden cardiac arrest back in April of this year, when he was stunned with a Taser. After performing an autopsy, the medical examiner concluded that the boy had a genetic heart condition that caused him to have an irregular heartbeat, which also made his heart too weak to withstand the shock from the Taser.
The boy, just 16 years old, fled the car he was travelling in with his cousin after the police pulled the two boys over for having an expired license plate. The boy then ran into an empty house and attempted to resist arrest, at which point the police used the Taser to shock him. He immediately collapsed and the police continued to handcuff him until they discovered that he wasn’t breathing. They then attempted to resuscitate him without success.
Many residents in Warren are in an uproar over the police forces’ continued use of Taser guns. However, the Warren Police continue to defend the officers’ actions during the incident, saying they were simply following the department’s policy and the Taser is a non-lethal weapon. However, this is the second Taser-related death in Michigan this year alone.
