$100,000 Lawsuit After Tasering a Guy That Complied with Orders

**kellyhound** · #1 ● 01-31-2015, 11:47 AM

A Cleveland police officer shocked a man with a Taser after the man had complied with orders to raise his hands and drop to his knees, according to video evidence and a civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court.

As Rafael Correa walked along Detroit Avenue near West 28th Street about 6:30 p.m. May 15, 2010, a police cruiser approached and Officer Jim Simone Jr. got out with his gun drawn and aimed at Correa, according to the complaint.

Simone ordered Correa, 28, to take off his backpack, get on his knees, remove the shirt slung around his neck and put his hands in the air. Correa quickly complied. But Simone, with a gun in one hand and a Taser in the other, fired his Taser into Correa, the video shows.

Two more officers -- Joseph Wright and Matthew Craska, according to the complaint -- arrived at the scene, rolled Correa onto his face and put him in handcuffs. Correa was unconscious while the officers searched him and his bag, the complaint states.

The officers were looking for a gun after a Bounce nightclub employee reported that Correa was booted from the property and may be armed, according to the complaint.

Police found no weapons, drugs or contraband during their search.

An ambulance arrived about six minutes after Correa was injured. A few minutes after that, two more officers arrived, bringing the total on scene to five. Many of the officers laughed and stood around while a paramedic checked Correa, video shows.

Correa was placed under arrest and kept in jail for four days on accusations of assault, obstructing official business and disturbing the peace, the complaint states. He was charged with obstructing official business. The charge was later dropped, according to Cleveland Municipal Court records.

The three officers, then-Chief Michael McGrath and the City of Cleveland were listed as defendants in the lawsuit. The suit claimed the city had deficient policies and failed to properly train its officers, which in part led to a violation of Correa's constitutional rights, according to the complaint.

Correa could not be reached for comment.

In 2013, the city settled the lawsuit for $100,000.