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NBC News reported that an Atlanta federal jury awarded $100 million to Jerry Blasingame, the panhandler who fell and fractured his neck because a police officer shocked him with a stun gun and used excessive force during a foot chase.
On July 20, 2018, 65-year-old Blasingame was asking drivers for money when Officer Jon Grubbs got out of his patrol car and chased Blasingame to get him to stop. Grubbs then tased the elderly man, causing him to fall, damage his face and break his neck, rendering him unconscious.
Due to Grubbs’ excessive force, Blasingame is paralyzed from the neck and requires extensive care, costing $1 million. According to his attorney Ven Johnson, he also has $14 million in medical bills.
The lawsuit was filed by Blasingame’s conservator, Keith Edwards, who claimed that the victim was only asking for money and talking to a driver when Grubbs chased him and unnecessarily used his stun gun.
“Grubbs gets out of the car and starts chasing my client—a 65-year-old man—and for what?” Johnson asked. “For potentially asking people for money?”
Jurors determined the Atlanta Police Department should pay Blasingame $60 million while Grubbs should pay $40 million. However, the city requested a direct verdict, which the judge would only enter if there was no legal and sufficient evidence to change the outcome.
“The record would allow the jury to find that Mr. Blasingame had not been committing a serious crime before he was tased—that Officer Grubbs did not fear for his safety—and that the exigent circumstances were not otherwise so severe as to permit Officer Grubbs’ use of force,” Jones wrote on record Friday.
Although Blasingame may be receiving a big reward, Johnson doesn’t like that Grubbs was able to go back to work six months after the incident.
“This is how an officer gets away with excessive force,” Johnson said to the jury during his closing argument. “You bury it.”
Grubbs and Atlanta’s attorney, Staci J. Miller, spoke to the jury in court and stated that while Blasingame’s injuries were serious and tragic, the blame shouldn’t be placed on the city training and department policy.