Jury Awards $5.5M to Marine’s Family in LAPD Stun Gun Death

A jury has awarded $5.5 million to the family of a 39-year-old Marine who died after Los Angeles police repeatedly shot him with a stun gun.

NBC4's media partner KPCC reports Monday that jurors found officers used excessive and unreasonable force while trying to restrain Michael Frederick Mears on Christmas Eve 2014.

Dale Galipo, an attorney for Mears' parents, said four LAPD officers and a sergeant responded to the incident and used batons, fists and pepper spray to try to restrain him. He says an officer used a stun gun on Mears six separate times in three minutes.

A coroner's report said Mears died as a result of an enlarged heart and other conditions, including cocaine intoxication and police restraint.

The family's attorneys said Mears, who served tours of duty in Afghanistan and Somalia, was suffering from a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) episode on Dec. 24, 2014. Mears was on the ground in his apartment complex hallway, rolling around in broken glass when paramedics arrived, according to family attorneys.

LAPD officers responded and used a baton, pepper spray and, eventually, a stun gun to subdue Mears. He died two days later at a hospital.

A spokesman for the city attorney's office told The Associated Press they are reviewing options.