Town settles lawsuit in Taser death

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

A Pittsburgh suburb has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle the lawsuit of a woman who claimed police use of a Taser killed her son even though the official autopsy showed cocaine stopped his heart.

The settlement was filed Thursday in federal court by attorneys for Swissvale and Donna Jo Thomas, of Monroeville. Her son, 37-year-old Andre Thomas, died just before midnight Aug. 4, 2008, when officers confronted him after he was seen trying to get into people’s homes.

The Allegheny County medical examiner determined Thomas was suffering from cocaine-induced delirium, which might have contributed to his unusual behavior and stopped his heart.

The woman sued after a forensic pathologist, Dr. Cyril Wecht, disagreed and claimed Thomas asphyxiated when an officer knelt on his back after he was zapped three times with the Taser.