Veteran files suit against Louisville police after being tasered

Veteran files suit against Louisville police
By Jason Riley
The Courier-Journal
Posted : Saturday Jan 26, 2013

A Kentucky National Guard lieutenant colonel has filed a lawsuit against several Louisville Metro Police officers, alleging he was assaulted and wrongfully detained when they took him to the ground and handcuffed him after a confrontation in January 2012.

Lt. Col. Donald Blake Settle claims he was stopped as he tried to leave Mid City Mall on Jan. 29, with one officer eventually pulling a Taser on him before he was forced face-down onto the concrete and restrained, according to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Jefferson Circuit Court.

Police have said they believed Settle was a homeless panhandler because his clothes were dusty, he had difficulty speaking and he couldn’t provide his address.

In an interview in September, Settle, a Purple Heart and multiple Bronze Star recipient, said he has a poor memory and difficulty speaking as the result of injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, incurred in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan and a vehicle rollover.

His case resulted in an internal police investigation, sharp questioning from Fort Knox officials and a new mandatory training program for police on how to deal with military veterans with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Lt. colonel with brain injury was handcuffed by police
Also another case

Tasered Veteran Files Lawsuit Against New Lenox Police Brian Wilhelm, 28, was Tasered by police in December 2010 while trying to help people in a car accident.