Taser Death Case Filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of PA

PHILADELPHIA, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A complaint filed today in U.S. District Court alleges that officers from four police departments contributed to the death of 61-year-old, Vietnam Veteran Robert Neill of Mount Joy, PA by stunning him multiple times with Tasers when responding to Neill's early-morning 911 call to report that someone had stolen his bike. Taser International is also named in the civil lawsuit for negligently manufacturing and distributing the electronic control devices and failing to properly instruct police officers on their use.

This is one of the first lawsuits filed in the U.S. related to a Taser death since a recent study published by the American Heart Association found that Taser shocks cause cardiac arrest and lead to fatalities. Tasers are currently used by 16,700 law enforcement agencies in 107 countries.

Neill's family is bringing this civil action against the Pennsylvania State Police Department, Mount Joy Police Department, the Susquehanna Regional Police Department, and the Northwest Lancaster County Police Department, asserting that they were aware of Neill's mental and emotional illnesses, responded with an excessive and unnecessary amount of force, and failed to provide Neill with adequate medical care before his untimely death. 

Neill was a decorated Vietnam Veteran who suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  He was well known in the community and by the local police and was unarmed and running away from the police when he was repeatedly tased, drive-stunned, hog-tied with rope and pepper sprayed.

"The police's excessive force contributed to the death of an innocent victim. Neill's death is a tragedy that could and should have been avoided. We aim to help prevent such unnecessary incidents from happening to others," said the family's attorney Stewart J. Eisenberg of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, PC.

About Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, PC 
The firm has earned the reputation as one of the premier personal injury firms in the region, having achieved multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of catastrophically injured individuals and their families.  The attorneys at Eisenberg, Rothweiler are respected, experienced, and skilled advocates handling difficult cases and achieving outstanding results for their clients.  For more information, visit www.erlegal.com.

SOURCE Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, PC