Lawsuit says Raleigh police tased man 6 times before he died. Police say it was just 3.

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed Monday contends Raleigh officers unnecessarily killed Darryl Williams by tasing him six times, including once after police handcuffed him.

The lawsuit, which is seeking $25 million from the city, contradicts the city’s previous contention that police only tased Williams, 32, three times while trying to detain him on drug charges.

What neither disagrees about is that around 2 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2023, Williams begged police to stop, saying he had a heart condition, before an officer tased him again.

“I have heart problems,” Williams said, gasping for air. “Please. Please.”

Williams fell unconscious and was pronounced dead at WakeMed. A state medical examiner report classified his death as a homicide, and said he died due to using cocaine, tussling with police and being tased multiple times.

Williams’ mother, Sonya, filed the lawsuit in the federal eastern district against the city, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson and five of the officers involved in Williams’ arrest. Williams is being represented by civil rights organization Emancipate NC and prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

The lawsuit accuses police and the city of violating Williams’ constitutional rights by using unnecessary and excessive force and ignoring previous excessive force and other claims demonstrating problematic policing patterns.

At a news conference Monday afternoon, Crump said that Williams was a victim of a police practice in which officers “proactively” patrol Black communities.

As a result of that practice, officers ended up improperly searching and later torturing Williams in the last moments of his life, even though he wasn’t a threat to himself or others, Crump said.

“The Raleigh Police Department showed no humanity to Darryl Tyree Williams,” Crump said.

What the city said happened

In a city report released days after Williams died, the city wrote that Officers Christopher Robinson and Jeremiah Thomas were checking on an area with a history of reports of drugs, weapons and other criminal violations.

When Robinson walked up to Williams’ car, he spotted an open bottle with an alcoholic drink and marijuana, the city report states. Robinson asked the two men to step out and searched Williams, finding in his pocket a folded dollar bill with a white substance that looked like cocaine, the city report said.

When Robinson started to arrest Williams, he ran. Officers tased him, and he fell on the ground. After struggling with police, Williams ran again but then tripped and fell. The officers deployed their Tasers two other times, but missed, the city report states.

Police stated in their report that they found two firearms and “suspected controlled substances” during a search of Williams’ car.

What the Darryl Williams lawsuit contends

The Williams lawsuit tells a different story. It contends that Williams wasn’t a deadly threat, and officers had him subdued when they continued to use a Taser on him.

The lawsuit says that Robinson was training Thomas during the arrest, and both only received eight hours of instruction related to using a Taser.

After Williams ran, Robinson used his Taser on Williams twice, the lawsuit contends. Williams fell and two officers tried to arrest him, but he managed to get free, running again. Officers hit Williams with a Taser again and Williams fell, the lawsuit states.

Four officers had Williams pinned on the ground, as he could be heard gasping for air, the lawsuit says, his hands visible and empty.

Thomas tased Williams once.

Williams appeared to be gasping for breath, pushing his chest up, trying to keep the weight of four officers off his chest, the lawsuit says, as officers yelled at him to put his hands behind his back.

Williams then said he had heart problems.

Robinson “responded by verbally counting down from three in quick succession before tasing Mr. Williams a fifth time,” the lawsuit states.

After Williams fell still, Thomas deployed his Taser onto Williams again, the lawsuit states.

The State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that contention, the lawsuit says.

“He was tased so many times, as if he was a vicious animal, and that was not right,” said Williams’ mother, Sonya.

Police Taser policies

Raleigh police policies say that officers shouldn’t use the Taser on someone who is running away unless the person poses an immediate threat to themselves or others.

It also said officers shouldn’t use the Taser in drive stun mode, such as when they pressed the Taser directly into Williams’ back twice within minutes, because it may not be an effective tool and may actually escalate the level of resistance by someone.

The policy points out that officers should be aware that there is a higher risk of sudden death in people under the influence of drugs.

Previous incidents key to lawsuit’s success

For the case to move forward, it has to overcome the high legal standard of holding an officer or a city liable for doing a dangerous job that requires many split-second decisions.

That means attorneys have to prove the officer violated Williams’ constitutional rights, and it was a result of Raleigh policy, unofficial custom or because Raleigh officials ignored the problem.

The city’s training and policies don’t acknowledge the potential dangers of using a Taser, the lawsuit contends, showing a “deliberate indifference” to the well being of people tased by police.

City officials ignored problematic policing and failed to take effective actions after a number of troubling incidents with police, the lawsuit states. Those incidents include a man with a history of mental illness dying after police used a Taser on him at least 11 times in 2013, the lawsuit states.

Williams’ lawsuit also pointed to the city’s 2023 $1.25 million settlement with the family of Soheil Mojarrad. The lawsuit, which was settled just before it was set to go to court, contends that the officer’s training led to him using excessive force instead of de-escalating the situation.

The Williams lawsuit also raises concerns about Robinson, contending he used excessive force on a teen on Dec. 19, 2022 as the teen used his phone to film his cousin’s arrest.

Following the incident, Robinson charged the teen’s cousin with resisting and assault offenses that were dismissed by the District Attorney after a review of the video evidence, the lawsuit states.

Dawn Blagrove, executive director of Emancipate NC, said that they filed the lawsuit because Raleigh leaders refuse to hold officers accountable for this and other interactions.

“Because everyone who you elect and pay to create accountability is failing to do it,” Blagrove said.

Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.