Kansas cops chased down and tased 80-year-old man for driving 3 mph over the speed limit: lawsuit

A new lawsuit alleges that an 80-year-old Kansas man was chased down and zapped with a stun gun by police for driving three miles over the posted speed limit, Fox 23 News reported on Thursday.

"John J. Sigg sued Monday, naming Allen County Sheriff Bryan J. Murphy and former Deputy Joseph Stotler. Sigg's lawsuit seeks $250,000 in actual damages and an equal amount in punitive damages," said the report. "Murphy and Stotler do not yet have attorneys. An email message left Wednesday with the sheriff wasn't immediately returned. No phone listing for Stotler could be found and it wasn't immediately clear when, or why, he left the department."

The incident occurred on April 16, 2021, according to the report.

"On April 16, 2021, Sigg was clocked by an Iola, Kansas, officer going 38 mph (61 kph) in a 35 mph (56 kph) speed zone. A pursuit began. The lawsuit said Sigg was unaware police were following him even though law enforcement vehicles from other departments joined the pursuit in an area that is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, Missouri," said the report. "Sigg drove to a car lot operated by his family. When he got out of his car, officers surrounded him and two officers from nearby Chanute, Kansas, drew their guns, the lawsuit said."

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According to the suit, Sigg was fully compliant, got out of the car and raised his hands, only for the police to order him to the ground and tase him, with no warning and with no regard for the manufacturer's instruction not to use stun guns on the elderly. Sigg was treated at an emergency room after telling officers he "didn't feel right" after the shock.

Tasers are marketed as a non-lethal use of force, but the powerful shocks sometimes have deadly consequences. In Los Angeles in January, Keenan Anderson, a Washington, D.C. based teacher and cousin of a Black Lives Matter cofounder, died after repeatedly being tased by LAPD officers. And last year, police in Catskill, New York tased Jason Jones just after he doused himself in hand sanitizer, causing him to burst into flames.