A federal lawsuit is filed against Connecticut police officers who used excessive and racially discriminatory force toward a Hispanic man who died on their custody. The said man was beaten by the officers and was electrified by a stun gun for over 20 seconds.
On February 2, the brother of the victim, Jose Maldonado filed the said lawsuit stating, officers of East Hartford violated Maldonado's constitutional rights and used force leading to his death in April 2014, the ABC News reported. The filed lawsuit continues with Maldonado's death was a discriminatory pattern of deadly police violence against blacks and Hispanics nationwide. The brother also seeks $15 million compensation.
According to Las Vegas Sun, Jose Maldonado, 22 years old was declared dead shortly at a hospital, where a medical examiner also ruled his death as homicide. The department of the East Hartford police refused to make comment regarding the case. However, the police reported, Maldonado became combative while at the police custody department. The man was arrested after throwing a punch on a car window while intoxicated.
On the filed lawsuit, the names of the officers from the said department were listed, it includes, Jason Kaplan and Jason Cohen, Sgt. James Lis, Chief Scott Sansom and the town of East Hartford. Kaplan, was the one who shocked the victim with a stun gun, Big Story reported. The medical record reads the victim died on a "cardiac arrhythmia following precordial electric shock and blunt injury to the head".
The State police are still working for the investigation regarding the victim's death and haven't indicted anyone. Connecticut is the first state requiring police departments to make a detailed reports regarding the times they fired or threatened to fire their stun guns on 2015. There was a highest percentage recorded on the time they use their stun guns on blacks and Hispanics.
