Sacramento to pay $5.2M in police Taser lawsuit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento will pay $5.2 million to the family of a man who was repeatedly shocked by police Tasers and left with severe brain damage.

The Sacramento Bee says the City Council on Tuesday approved the settlement of an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of John Hernandez. It’s believed to be the largest such settlement in the city’s history.

Officers struggled to arrest Hernandez in 2017 after reports that he’d been acting bizarrely and appeared to be on drugs.

Hernandez ran from officers and three tackled him. During a fierce struggle, he was stunned nine times with Tasers and struck at least five times with batons.

The lawsuit says he stopped breathing and his family says he now has the mental capacity of a toddler and needs 24-hour care.