Southampton
Family files suit in Taser death

By Zachary R. Dowdy
Staff Writer

September 20, 2004, 2:39 PM EDT


Relatives of David Glowczenski, a Southampton man who died while in police custody in February, have filed two lawsuits demanding over a billion dollars in damages, saying that he was "unmercifully" killed by overly violent officers who beat, pepper sprayed and shocked him with a Taser gun.

"There is no excuse or justification for the way he was tortured and executed on a public street," Glowczenski's sister, Jean Griffin, said at a news conference in Mineola, commenting on her brother's Feb. 4 encounter with Southampton police.

Griffin and her mother, Mary Jane Glowczenski, and their attorney, Frederick K. Brewington of Hempstead, announced they are suing the Village of Southampton, its police department, Suffolk County and its police department, individual officers and, in a separate lawsuit, Taser International Incorporated.

They seek $550 million from the Southampton and Suffolk and $570 million from Taser.

"David Glowczenski was tortured to death," said Brewington, adding that Glowczenski had been shocked nine times with a 50,000-volt Taser gun, had been sprayed with pepper spray and beaten with a club or kicked and punched. "He was beaten in a way that as, in our view, unmerciful and improper." Trying to get comment from police, company that makes the Taser.

Now.. that guy in Caly's post had obviously commited some style of crime to be in police custody to begin with.. to me that negates the opportunity to be grabbing for money when the outcome was less than desireable.

......Suffolk County Attorney Christine Malafi said she could find no liability for the county in the notice of claim, a preliminary brief filed after the death.

At the news conference, Brewington held up grisly photos of Glowczenski's body, with bruises visible on each check, his nose and his forehead. His knees were a bright red, Brewington said, because he "was crawling for his life."

According to Suffolk police, the incident began after village police were called by Glowczenski's family to their Layton Avenue home at about 10:30 a.m. when he began acting irrationally, but he left before officers arrived. Southampton Village police found him screaming on North Main Street, where he allegedly pushed down a female officer who tried to calm him down. Other officers arrived and subdued Glowczenski with pepper spray and the Taser but he stopped breathing.

Brewington claims the Taser jolt was a contributing factor. The family would not release finding from a private autopsy. The county's autopsy has not yet been completed.

While Tasers have been cited in deaths nationwide, last week a Denver medical examiner ruled the gun played no role in the death of a man who died Aug. 19 in police custody.

But an Arizona Republic investigation in July found other medical examiners have linked Tasers to deaths of five people who died in police custody.

The guns, according to Taser's Web site, are used by 5,400 police departments. The company claims the 50,000 volts are harmless since the shock carries low amperage. Taser officials claim the gun delivers a 26-watt current of electricity.

Company officials said in a statement that Tasers can help subdue violent people being taken into police custody, and that there have been similar in-custody deaths where a Taser gun wasn't used.

Now.. that guy in Caly's post had obviously commited some style of crime to be in police custody to begin with..

They won't get a billion dollars. Nobody gets that much. They won't get anything even close to that.