By: Associated Press//December 17, 2018//
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal jury has awarded $6.5 million to a man who was severely injured when an Independence police officer shot him with a Taser.
The Kansas City Star reports the jury returned the verdict Friday in a lawsuit filed by Bryce Masters against the former officer, 35-year-old Timothy Runnels.
Masters was 17 in 2014 when he was stopped for a traffic violation by Runnels.
Dash cam video shows Masters refusing to get out of the car. Runnels tried to pull him out before shooting Masters with a Taser for about 20 seconds, and Masters became unresponsive.
After Runnels dragged him out of the road and dropped him face first onto the pavement, Masters suffered a cardiac arrest.
Runnels is serving a four-year prison sentence for violating Masters’ civil rights.