ATLANTA (AP) — A federal jury in Atlanta has awarded $100 million to a homeless man who fell and broke his neck after a police officer electrocuted him with a stun gun during a foot chase, news agencies report.
Jerry Blasingame now needs 24-hour care, which costs $1 million a year, and racks up $14 million in medical bills so far, attorney Ven Johnson told the jury.
The jury found that Officer Jon Grubbs used unreasonable force against Blasingame, who was 65 years old and was asking drivers for money on July 10, 2018. He was paralyzed from the neck down and is now 69 years old.
The jury found the Atlanta Police Department to pay $60 million and Grubbs $40 million, WXIA-TV and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The city has already filed a motion for a judge to consider whether the jury’s verdict can be modified. Judge Steve Jones has yet to rule on that request.
Keith Edwards, Blasingame’s guardian, sued the city of Atlanta and Grubbs for the cost of past and future medical bills.
Civil rights attorney Craig Jones said Grubbs violated police department policy by using a stun gun on a fleeing elderly man, local media reported.
The suit says Blasingame was on the street asking people for money when Grubbs and another officer arrived and saw him talking to a driver.
Grubbs got out of the patrol car and told Blasingame to stop, but Blasingame veered off the street onto a guardrail and Grubbs ran toward him, according to the lawsuit.