Police Brutality

.Cops After Death Of Gregory Towns Jr. While In Custody

ATLANTA (AP) -- The family of a man who died after Atlanta-area police used stun guns on him has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the former officers and the city, the family's lawyer said.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Fulton County Superior Court, says East Point police officers used their stun guns as many as 13 times on Gregory Towns Jr. while he was handcuffed. The lawsuit claims former police sergeant Marcus Eberhart and former corporal Howard Weems used excessive force in the April 11 incident.

"It's just heinous," attorney Chris Stewart told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday. "This isn't one of those cases where he punched an officer and they had to Taser him to calm him down."

The lawsuit comes amid increased attention on police use of force in the wake of the fatal shooting in of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Following that shooting, local police in Ferguson donned riot gear and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who refused to disperse and, at times, broke into nearby businesses.

While many police officers use their authority appropriately, there are some who view any act of disobedience as a call for extreme action, Stewart said.

"In our case, it wasn't about color, obviously, because the officers were black," Stewart said. "It was about power. He didn't walk when they said walk. He didn't stand when they said stand. And he didn't move fast enough when they said move."