Family Sues Fort Worth Police For Death, Reacts To I-Team Video
FORT WORTH (CBS I-TEAM) - In April 2014, former Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead talked to dozens of officers across the country about Taser International products and a run-in his officers had with a man named Jermaine Darden, "Well, we had this video. Not one lawsuit will be filed or won," said Halstead.
But Monday, that statement was proven wrong. A lawsuit was filed against the City of Fort Worth and two police officers, claiming excessive force was used on Jermaine Darden in May 2013.
May 2013 Helmet Camera Video Excerpt:
Officer 1: "I'm surprised there ain't no chicken places up here. Why you laughing J? Why you laughing dog?
Officer 2: Because it's true.
Angela Tyson has seen this helmet cam video hundreds of times. It was recorded in May 2013, by a SWAT team member that raided Jermaine Darden's house.
But Wednesday was the first time she's seen video of former Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead talking about her brother's death.
"The man over 300, 330 pounds, physically resisted arrest for 50 seconds. And it was just a single, 5-second deployment of Taser," Halstead said at that April 2014 conference.
Halstead is pitching Taser International products at that conference, saying this helmet video is proof his officers didn't do anything wrong.
"The ME said he died of the widow maker's disease, so, he had a 98% blockage of two different arteries. He was going to die at any next exertion of force. He did it towards us, not us towards them," Halstead said in his presentation.
"He's not a physician. He's not God," Tyson stated in reaction to Halstead. "Who's to say when Jermaine would have died? But because this happened, he's not here with us now."
Darden's family disagrees with Halstead. The blame excessive force and multiple Taser hits for his death, not just one as alleged by Halstead in the video.
"These are the people that we pay to protect us. And now we have these people with these mindsets that they don't care that we're human too," Tyson added.
All of the officers involved in the raid were cleared of any criminal wrong doing by a grand jury.
We reached out to both Jeffrey Halstead and the Fort Worth Police Department, but no one would comment.