Unarmed, Black Man Lying Face Down Killed after being Tasered Over & Over Brings Suit - Valejo Police Deny Claim

The case of a Vallejo man who died after police shocked him with a Taser stun gun inched closer to a possible legal showdown Thursday as city officials denied his mother's claim for potentially millions of dollars in compensation. The Vallejo city attorney's office rejected Robinson's claim due to a lack of merit, city spokesperson Mark Mazzaferro said Thursday. Robinson's son, Andrew Washington, who would have turned 22 this Saturday, died Sept. 16, after police shocked him multiple times with a Taser. Police say Washington refused to stop running from officers after crashing a car he allegedly took from a friend without permission. According to a copy of Robinson's claim provided by her attorney, she alleges that "police used excessive force to apprehend (her) son and killed him in the process." The claim names the city, Police Chief Robert Nichelini and unidentified police officers involved in the melee. "Mr. Washington died at least in part due to the wrongful use of a Taser handheld electronic weapon that police officers used to maliciously torment the man, sending repeated and violent shocks through Mr. Washington's body as he was face down on the ground and posing no real or credible threat of force or violence to anyone," the claim alleges. Robinson's claim also argues that police "were negligent in the instruction, training and other guidance" on Taser use. The officers should have known that using the stun gun repeatedly on a person "was likely to cause serious and unjustifiable injury or even death," the claim says.  [more]

• Family Also Suing Taser Manufacturer In a seperate (?) Negligence suit brought on behalf of Andrew Washington Sr. by his 2 year-old son, Andrew Jr., the complaint accuses "manufacturer Taser International of knowingly marketing a dangerously defective weapon as safe and "non-lethal." "Defendants Taser International ... knew that the Taser gun that caused (Washington's) death was defective in design, and that the defective design increased the risk of serious injury and death to persons in normal use of the gun,'' according to the lawsuit filed by Walnut Creek attorney Andrew Schwartz on behalf of Washington's son. [more]