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Jerry Blasingame: Jury awards $100M to Atlanta man who was paralyzed after cop shocked him with stun gun

Since the incident, Blasingame, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury and cannot use all four limbs, has been living in a facility where he receives round-the-clock care

BY MEENAKSHI SENGUPTA

UPDATED AUG 30, 2022

Jerry Blasingame (L), who was unarmed, was asking people for money and speaking with a driver when Jon Grubbs (R) and another officer were patrolling the downtown area (NBC screenshots)

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: A 69-year-old panhandler, Jerry Blasingame, who fell and broke his neck after police officer Jon Grubbs shocked him with a stun gun during a foot chase in 2018, has been awarded $100 million by a federal jury on August 26.

Following the July 10, 2018 incident, Blasingame was admitted to a trauma center at Grady Memorial Hospital and has since been housed in a facility around the clock as a "prisoner in his own body" with a severe spinal cord injury and nearly nonfunctional limbs, NBC reports. The lawsuit, filed in 2019 in US District Court on behalf of Blasingame's conservator Keith Edwards, sued the city of Atlanta and Grubbs for the cost of Blasingame's past and future medical bills. The lawsuit alleged that the medical bills have cost Blasingame $14 million and will require another $1 million per year until he recovers. The eight-member jury awarded Blasingame both compensatory and punitive damages on Aug 26, ruling that "Grubbs should be held liable for $40 million and the city should be held liable for $60 million," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

HORRIFYING footage shows Georgia police officer shooting at Jeep trying to run him over

Commenting on the verdict, Blasingame's attorney Ven Johnson said, "We are very, very grateful to this amazing jury and so proud of the amazing work they’ve done in holding this officer accountable and getting justice for Mr Blasingame." Johnson and civil rights attorney Craig Jones said Grubbs violated department policy by using a stun gun on an elderly man who was running away. Jones told Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "While only a small percentage of lawsuits actually go to a jury trial, sometimes that is the only way they can be resolved."

What exactly happened in 2018?

The incident in which Blasingame was injured occurred on the afternoon of July 10 near Windsor Street near downtown, according to the lawsuit. Johnson described the details in his closing argument. He said, "Grubbs gets out of the car and starts chasing my client — a 65-year-old man— and for what? For potentially asking people for money? You run from the police, you get what you sow. That’s what some people think. But that’s not so. Jerry Blasingame matters. Jerry Blasingame, and his suffering."

As Fox News reports, Grubbs, who joined the Atlanta Police Department as a cadet in December 2013 and became a full-fledged officer a year later, was placed on administrative leave following the incident but reportedly returned to duty just six months later.