City to settle Taser death claim
The city of San Jose will pay $70,000 to the family of a man who died after police used a Taser stun gun on him.
Officers said 38-year-old Jose Rios defied repeated attempts to subdue him when they responded to a domestic dispute in November 2005, prompting them to strike him with batons and shock him with Tasers.
Rios’ family said officers continued stunning him even after he was subdued. He later was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The coroner found that Rios died of a heart attack from a combination of the violent struggle, cocaine and the Taser.
Officials in San Jose agreed on Tuesday to settle a federal lawsuit filed by Rios’ wife and son, the city’s first settlement over a death linked to Tasers.
The weapons have come under increasing scrutiny for causing unintended deaths by law enforcement.
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