Greenville Pays $500,000 to Settle With Family of Andrew Torres in Taser-Torture Lawsuit

Andrew Torres

Andrew Torres, 39, was an unarmed and mentally-ill man who needed help. Instead he was the victim of prejudicial electrocution by Greenville (SC) police officers. The city of Greenville paid $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the Torres family to make it go away.

The lawsuit was filed in June 2012 alleging the police violated Torres' civil rights.

Torres, a Greenville High School and University of South Carolina-Spartanburg graduate, had been diagnosed as schizophrenic and had suffered from mental illness beginning at the age of 21.

In August 2010, Torres' mental state had eroded to the point where his family asked police to enforce a court order allowing Torres to be involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.

The family asked that plainclothes officers with training in dealing with the mentally ill be dispatched. Instead the officers used excessive force in electrocuting Torres with multiple Taser shots over an extended time. The officers pushed him onto the bedroom floor face down and handcuffed him. After a series of struggles, Torres went limp and his face and fingers began turning blue.

The family alleges that officers continued to hold him down after he had stopped resisting and made no efforts to resuscitate him before EMS arrived.  Emergency workers determined that Torres was in cardiac arrest and transported him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

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Greenville County Officials Debate Criminal Charges Against Police in Taser Death of Andrew Torres

Andrew Torres was killed by two Greenville (SC) police officers who electrocuted him with their taser guns on August 9. The coroner ruled that the death was a homicide. The only remaining question is whether or not the police officers will be charged with a crime or not.

We learned that the Greenville County Solicitor Bob Ariail isn't willing to make the decision. He is punting the decision about whether to charge the police officers with a crime for their role in the death of Torres. [SOURCE]

Ariail said he has forwarded the State Law Enforcement Division's report on Torres death to 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett. He said he is sure that Brackett will handle the matter in an expeditious and professional manner.

Brackett will decide if criminal charges will be filed against the three officers involved in the August killing -- who have been identified as officers Dale Dirton, Kevin Hill and Eric Koepke.

Taser Autopsy: Coroner Rules 'Homicide' in Death of Andrew Torres

The Greenville County coroner's office said that the death of 39-year old Andrew Torres was a homicide. On Aug. 9, two Greenville police officers went to the home of Andrew Torres to serve him with involuntary commitment papers when police said he became combative. Officers said they eventually were forced to kill Torres with their taser guns. Torres was electrocuted with multiple taser attacks, was winded after officers subdued him and became unresponsive about 10 minutes later.
Andrew Torres died from a cardiac arrhythmia as a result of having an enlarged heart, the use of Tasers and the physical strain of tussling with police, Coroner Park Evans said. [see VIDEO]

Evans said Tuesday that the use of Tasers "certainly would have added to the stress and strain he was under that brought on the lethal event." Another factor was a physical altercation in which Torres wrestled with police as they tried to take him to the hospital for evaluation.

"One (of those things) in itself would probably not be a cause for his demise, but when the combination came together it caused his death," said Evans.

The findings have been forwarded to the State Law Enforcement Division and the solicitor's office to decide if charges will be filed against the officers, Dale Dirton, Kevin Hill and Eric Koepke. The officers involved have been on administrative leave since Torres' death.

Andrew Torres' brother, Frank, says that his sisters heard an officer tell emergency medical personnel that their brother was stunned six times.

Family members have said in a written statement that doctors struggled to find the right medicine for Andrew Torres, and that it was sometimes necessary to have him involuntarily committed.

Three officers charged his door to force it open, and one of them reached inside to "blindly" stun him with a Taser, sending Torres into a panic, family members have said.

Family members said they don't hold anything against the officers, but that using force caused the situation to escalate unnecessarily.

Frank Torres said the family wants more training for officers, citing an almost identical previous situation in which 45 minutes of negotiation helped de-escalate the confrontation.

Greenville police are getting new training on dealing with the mentally ill after the death of a man stunned by officers with Tasers. Chief Terri Wilfong told multiple media outlets Wednesday that her officers will get up to 40 hours of crisis intervention training. [SOURCE]

Taser-Torture Update: Andrew Torres (Greenville SC)

Andrew Torres, 39, was killed by taser-happy police officers in Greenville SC earlier this week. We now know the name of the 3 officers that performed the extra-judicial electrocution: Officer Kevin Hill, Officer Eric Koepke and Officer Dale Dirton. [SOURCE]

We also have new video from the family. They lay out a story that appears to be very bad for the Greenville police department. The family sought assistance from the police. The police arrived with an agenda of violence that resulted in death.





Is there any justification for this taser-related death?

Taser Death: Andrew Torres (Greenville, SC)

Another man is dead from pre-judicial electrocution by taser. 39-year old Andrew Torres was a mentally-ill man. His family called the police for assistance in getting Torres to a hospital for assistance. They had no idea the police would taser him six times resulting in his death.

Two unidentified Greenville police officers came to the Torres home to serve mental papers. The police clearly understood that this man was ill ... not a criminal ... not armed ... just sick. Instead of handling the process like professionals, the police allowed the situation to escalate to a point where taser guns were drawn and fired multiple times.

Ten minutes later, while in police custody, Andrew Torres was unresponsive. An ambulance responded to the scene and medics found him in cardiac arrest. Torres was driven to the hospital where medical personnel pronounced him dead at 5:40 p.m.

The mother said her son was suffering from a form of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  For years the family turned to National Alliance On Mental Illness in Greenville for help.  They attended support groups and education classes to learn how to deal with mental illness. [SOURCE]

"We understand their son had not been taking his medicine," said Fletcher Mann, NAMI Greenville program director. "His condition worsened (and the) family was seeking to go through the legal process of commitment," he said.

To families living with mental illness, Andrew's death is another painful reminder that the system doesn't always work.

We wait to see what the coroner says about this taser-related killing. In the meantime, the under-trained police continue to use their tasers as a killing weapon all over America. When will it stop?