By Henry K. Lee
San Francisco Chronicle
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The family of a drug suspect who died after he was shot with a Taser during a confrontation with San Jose police has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and the device’s manufacturer.
Officers stopped Prince Swayzer III, 38, of San Jose because they believed he was involved in drug trafficking, police have said. Swayzer became combative after being pulled over at North Third and Hensley streets on Sept. 2, 2008, and resisted arrest, police said.
While struggling with three officers, he swallowed an unknown amount of cocaine in an attempt to hide it from police, authorities said.
Officers stunned Swayzer with a Taser and subdued him. He died at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose.
Swayzer died of acute cocaine intoxication, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office, which ruled his death an accident.
But Swayzer’s parents, Prince Swayzer II and Deborah Porter, said in their lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose that their son had complied with officers’ demands before they tackled him.
Officers yelled at him to “spit out the crack, or you will be Tased,” but Swayzer was unable to because “at least three officers had him pinned to the grounwd,” the suit said.
The suit also accuses Taser International Inc. of manufacturing a weapon that posed “an unreasonable risk of serious bodily injury or death.”
The city of San Jose has not responded to the suit in court, and city officials declined comment.
In a statement Wednesday, Taser said it “stands behind the safety of its products, but it is our policy to not comment on pending litigation. We do know that Taser electronic control devices save lives and reduce injuries to officers and suspects.”
Copyright 2010 San Francisco Chronicle