Family of Greenwood man who died after tasering receives $2 million settlement

The family of a local man who died in 2016 after being stunned with a Taser by Greenwood police has received a $2 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Charles Todero died in June 2016, about two weeks after being stunned with a Taser 16 times in three minutes by police during a May 2016 incident. Todero’s family filed a lawsuit in federal court in May 2017, and the lawsuit named the city of Greenwood and three police officers, saying the department violated Todero’s civil rights.

A $2 million settlement in the case was reached in October 2021, with the funds being split among members of Todero’s family. The complaint was formally closed in January.

The lawsuit alleged that Todero, who was sitting on the side of the road on Madison Avenue reading a Bible, had done nothing to deserve being hit with a Taser stun once, let alone 16 times. Todero died about two weeks after the incident as a result of damage to his body from the use of the Taser, the lawsuit said.

Todero’s family sought an unidentified amount of monetary damages to be determined by a jury. He was 30 at the time of his death.

Allegations in a civil lawsuit are the opinion of the person filing and may be refuted in court. At the time of the lawsuits initial filing, city officials disputed the “factual” allegations in the complaint and denied the claims made by the family, according to news reports.

Police responded May 29, 2016, to reports of a man walking in and out of traffic on Madison Avenue near Camby Street. Multiple callers reported that Todero was attempting to get hit, and cars were braking and swerving to avoid him, according to accounts police gave of the event last year.

When an officer first arrived on the scene, Todero was sitting on a curb reading a Bible, Steve Art, an attorney with the Chicago-based civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy, said in 2016. The firm represented the family in the lawsuit.

Todero was walking home from his father’s funeral, and his father’s Bible was the sole item he would get from him, Art said.

Todero was doing nothing more than jaywalking and that he could have been easily restrained without excessive force right away when an officer arrived at the scene, he said.

Police accounts conflict with the events outlined in the lawsuit. Police described Todero’s actions as dangerous and erratic, and that an officer had no other options after Todero would not follow commands and after an officer tried to restrain him. That’s when the Taser was used the first time, officials said.

The 15 additional times the Taser stun was administered were due to weaker charge from the Taser since only one prong had entered Todero’s skin and that Todero had continued to try to stand up. Police also stated that Todero had held up his Bible and claimed to be Jesus Christ as the Taser was being administered, officials said.

Attorneys for the family disputed this account, saying that the first charge from the Taser rendered Todero subdued and that body camera footage from the scene backed up the claim, officials said.

Following Todero’s death, police said an investigation found that officers hadn’t done anything wrong. An autopsy identified two pre-existing conditions — liver disease and Hepatitis C — as having led to swelling in Todero’s brain and having caused his death, officials said.

Attorneys for the family described those claims a “utter nonsense” at the time, saying that the symptoms of excessive Taser use were physiologically present in Todero during the two weeks he was in the hospital before he died.

High levels of lactic acid, certain proteins and potassium — the result of muscle contractions caused by electrocution — led to medical problems including multiple heart attacks and organ failure, the lawsuit said.

Attorneys also argued that the Greenwood Police Department needed to have clear policies on Taser use, have better training and oversight, and must discipline officers who use Tasers inappropriately.

In a statement, Greenwood Police Chief James Ison said that the department would continue to work closely with mental health providers to ensure officers have the training needed to respond appropriately.

“Law enforcement agencies across the country are experiencing a need for additional resources including specialized training on mental health crisis,” Ison said. “Our agency will continue to work closely with regional mental health professionals to ensure that our officers have the training needed to respond appropriately.”

When asked about the outcome of the settlement, Tyler Todero, a relative of Charles, said that the family plans on releasing camera footage and text messages regarding the incident at some point in the future. This would be in an effort to have action taken against the officers involved in the incident, Tyler Todero said.

“That’s what we hope at least,” he said.