Man files lawsuit against Fairfax
Co. officer, county, for use of stun gun against him
FOX 5's Alexandra Limon reports.
FEB 10 2017 08:
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - In September
2015, an incident was captured on cellphone video that showed a police officer
using a Taser on a man in Fairfax County. The man, who suffers from cerebral
palsy, is suing for excessive force in this case.
It all started at a SunTrust Bank
in the Rose Hill area of Franconia in Fairfax County. Elton Cansler took a pair
of sunglasses from inside the bank and then took off. Police were then called.
On the cellphone video, a responding officer uses his Taser on the man.
“His actions there – we are
saying is excessive force,” said Cansler’s attorney, Maxwelle Sokol. “He has
his hands up, the hands go on the hood of the car, he gets tased.”
Man files lawsuit against Fairfax
Co. officer, county, for use of stun gun against him
The original lawsuit was filed
this past December. In January, the police chief filed a motion to dismiss the
lawsuit. This week, Cansler's attorneys have responded.
“On February 8th, we filed in
opposition to that motion claiming that we in fact did allege enough facts to
proceed,” Sokol said.
Cansler is suing Alan Hanks, the
officer involved in the incident, as well as Fairfax County’s police chief and
the county.
“They rubberstamped this and said
this is totally compliant with our policies,” said Sokol. “So that is the basis
for the county's liability – their after-the-fact ratification and endorsement
of his actions.”
Officer Hanks was cleared of any
wrongdoing days after the incident by the police department. The department
released a detailed breakdown of the incident and it said in part that Cansler
put his hands in his pockets and he had a knife. It also said he refused commands
to put his hands behind his back and resisted arrest.
One of the witnesses who took the
cell phone video said at the time after the 2015 incident, “The gentleman just
happened to be walking down the sidewalk and the cop pulls up in front of him,
tells him to turn over, and as soon as he has his back turned towards him, he
tases him. He didn’t see it coming.”
Both sides are still waiting for
a ruling on whether the lawsuit against the police department and the county
can move forward. It may all be decided at a hearing scheduled in March. The
lawsuit against the officer will likely continue because he has not filed a
motion to dismiss it.
