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Tennessee veteran tased by deputy in mistaken stop gets $1m settlement

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Deputy Randall Williams pursued 64-year-old Brian Eugene Hux after incorrectly suspecting him of being an escaped patient who was three decades younger and visibly different in appearance. When Hux ran from the charging officer, Williams discharged a Taser into the back of his head, causing a fall that fractured his skull and triggered internal brain bleeding. The resulting permanent cognitive and physical impairments necessitated around-the-clock medical care for Hux. Although Hux originally sought $3 million in damages, his legal team reached the $1 million agreement following the court's rejection of the officer's immunity claims.

Key points

  • Knox County agreed to pay a $1 million civil rights settlement to disabled Air Force vete…: Knox County agreed to pay a $1 million civil rights settlement to disabled Air Force veteran Brian Eugene Hux.
  • The injuries sustained during the mistaken encounter left Hux requiring round-the-clock c…: The injuries sustained during the mistaken encounter left Hux requiring round-the-clock care in an assisted living facility.
  • Federal judges rejected the argument that an outstanding warrant discovered after the sto…: Federal judges rejected the argument that an outstanding warrant discovered after the stop justified the deputy's aggressive actions.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A disabled US Air Force veteran who suffered a fractured skull after being Tasered by a Tennessee deputy will receive $1 million from Knox County. The settlement comes four years after the incident, in which the deputy was searching for a 34-year-old man but stopped Brian Eugene Hux, who was 64 at the time.

Hux was on Edington Road in South Knox County on October 10, 2022, when Deputy Randall Williams approached him. Williams was looking for a hospital patient who had escaped police custody. However, the information circulated among officers about the person they were seeking differed from Hux's appearance, according to the lawsuit.

According to WVLT News, the alert described a man aged 34, standing six feet tall and having brown hair. Hux, meanwhile, was 64, measured 5 feet 9 inches and had long purple hair. He was also a 100% disabled Air Force veteran.

The encounter ended with Hux being struck by a Taser in the back of his head. He fell face-first onto the road. Medical records referred to in the lawsuit documented a fractured skull…

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