Family of Middletown Man Tased Before Death Sues

Suit claims officers inflicted unreasonable and excessive force.

The family of a Middletown man who died after being shot 34 times with a stun gun has filed a suit against the City of Middletown, the former police chief and five police officers.

Five officers confronted Efrain Carrion after police got a call from one of his relatives in May 2010 about a man having a "psychiatric meltdown."

A news release from the Carrion family's attorney said Carrion had committed no crime, was never arrested, voluntarily came out from under the bed, rolled onto his stomach, permitted the officers to place handcuffs on his wrists with his hands behind his back and calmly walked to a chair placed near the front door of his apartment "but City of Middletown police officers refused to allow him to walk down the stairs to a waiting ambulance."  

"The accused fought his way forward and to the apartment door, barreling through us as if we did not exist," Officer William Hertler said in his statement to state police, the Hartford Courant reported after a report from police came out.

After being shot with a stun gun, Carrion managed to escape into the woods, where he also put a police dog in a chokehold. Police used several sets of handcuffs to restrain him and Carrion eventually became unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The news release from the family states that officers shot Carrion several times, for as long as 24 seconds at a time, and often shot him simultaneously.

The suit claims that the police officers violated Carrion’s civil rights by inflicting unreasonable and excessive force upon him, that the Middletown officers were negligent and failed to treat Carrion as an individual who needed medical care rather than as a criminal and used their Tasers inconsistently with the instructions of Taser International, which manufactures the weapon. 

The suit also claims the city and former acting police Chief McMahon knew that the city’s police officers would have to interact with individuals suffering from mental illness, mental impairments, mental syndromes and/or psychological issues, yet they failed to adopt a policy regarding this and/or failed to train or supervise their officers so that they could make appropriate decisions when dealing with these types of individuals.

The medical examiner ruled the cause of death as "excited delirium."

A report in March cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.

Contact Us