Man who was Tasered by police while sleeping will get $100,000

[HiredGoon]

My bold in story below

N. Braddock to pay $100,000 to man Tasered while sleeping
Friday, August 22, 2008
By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The borough of North Braddock and its insurance carrier have agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a suit brought by a man who says police shocked him with a Taser as he slept on his couch.

Officers Gerard Kraly and Lukas Laeuricia were responding to a silent burglar alarm at the Stokes Avenue apartment of Shawn Hicks in the early morning of July 28, 2007, when the incident occurred.

In his suit, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court and later transferred to federal court, Mr. Hicks said he was asleep on the couch after a night out with friends. At 2:44 a.m., he was "awakened by being tasered by Kraly and Laeuricia."

He said he tried to explain that he lived there and showed his identification, but they shocked him two more times, according to the suit.

The officers' lawyer, Paul Krepps, argued that the officers are entitled to qualified immunity because their conduct was in the exercise of good faith. The officers said they were responding to an alarm, thought they were dealing with a burglary in progress and acted lawfully. Police said they didn't know whether Mr. Hicks, who has a long criminal history, had a weapon and shocked him when he refused repeated commands to show his hands.

The FBI and the Allegheny County district attorney's office both looked into the case and decided against taking action against the police.

Mr. Krepps said the borough and its insurance company decided to settle to save money. Had the case gone to trial, he said, it would have ended up costing the borough even more, regardless of the eventual outcome. Federal civil rights cases are often settled for that reason.

"It was a business decision," he said.

Mr. Hicks' lawyer, Andrew Leger, didn't immediately return a message today.

[adymond]

Well shit. I guess I know how to support myself if I want to quit my job. I will set off an alarm and fall asleep. When I refuse to comply maybe they will taze me or just beat me. Either way I get money.

[HiredGoon]

Yeah, but you have to have a long criminal history also...like Mr. Hicks

Please TAZE me Bro!

[Hawk]

They couldn't of known his identity at the time they Tazed him, nor that he had a long criminal history, so how can they use that to help justify their actions?

BTW, the plaintiff's lawyer probably got at least 40% of the $100,000

[BerksCountyDave]

You know what? It doesn't matter what his history is. He was ASLEEP IN HIS OWN HOME. And they tazed him. Hell, I'd sue 'em too.

Here's my question though, why was the alarm going off?

[LorDiego01]

Good for him. He deserves the money.

Its funny when police have to pay up because they abuse their power on "the undesirables", its "milking the man for all he's worth", but when it happens to one of us, its "justice"?

Give me a break.

[Ramtuff]

Here's my question though, why was the alarm going off?

The story says he returned home from a night out with friends, and this occurred at 2:44 am....my guess, and it's only a guess, is that he came home drunk, never thought about turning the alarm off, and passed out on the couch.

[rady8um]

How would he have known the silent alarm was going off?

[Ramtuff]

How would he have known the silent alarm was going off?

Since it was his residence, and the alarm was set in the first place, he must have armed it when he left. Even a silent alarm isn't completely silent...most keypads still make noise and have pretty flashing lights on them to let you know if the alarm is set, tripped, and what zone has been tripped, etc.