Personal Injury Law

Illinois Taser Lawsuits Seeking Millions for Students Shocked During School Demo

The families of two 12-year-olds are each suing the Kankakee School District 111, the city of Kankakee, two teachers, and a Kankakee police officer for $10 million after the boys were Tasered during an unauthorized school demonstration at Kankakee Junior High School, which is located about 60 miles from Chicago. An Illinois injuries to minor lawsuit filed by the family of a third boy is seeking $33 million. Police have placed Officer Lonnie Netzel on administrative leave following the alleged incident.

Netzel is accused of stunning the students with a Taser after they volunteered for the demo. One of the boys has a heart murmur. His mother took him to a hospital emergency room as soon as she found out about the Taser incident. The boy?s mother says this was not the first time the cop had used the stun gun on students. School officials and police, however, will not verify her claim. Some of the plaintiffs are claiming that racism was involved.

Tasers are used to apprehend suspects. Consider a less lethal alternative to shooting someone, the electrical shocks meant to incapacitate its target are painful and have been known to cause serious injury and even death. They definitely should not be used without just cause. Using a Taser to apprehend someone who could?ve been apprehended in a less painful manner is considered excessive use of force and may be grounds for a Chicago injury lawsuit.

Just last month a Chicago man filed a Cook County police brutality lawsuit against LaGrange Park and Brookfield cops. Prospero David Lassi claims he was shocked 11 times because he accidentally hit a police officer while having a diabetic seizure. The cops were supposed to be helping paramedics move him. Lassi says he sustained permanent scars, including a facial injury, as well as musculoskeletal and neurological injuries. He says that because of the police assault, he was unable to work for several months.

School is back on for some students, The Daily Journal, January 17, 2010

Lawsuit alleges excessive force, PioneerLocal, January 5, 2010

Related Web Resources:
TASER Danger?, CBS News, October 12, 2004

Kankakee School District 111

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on January 21, 2010 (boomark / email).