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Sack attack

Delco man claims cops busted his nuts with Taser

Attorney J. Conor Corcoran said of his client: 'They'd just nuked him in the balls.' (DOM SAVINI PHOTOGRAPHY)
Attorney J. Conor Corcoran said of his client: 'They'd just nuked him in the balls.' (DOM SAVINI PHOTOGRAPHY)Read more

WELL, THIS is nuts.

A Delaware County man has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the cops who arrested him for public drunkenness in 2012 were real ball busters because they tased his testicles while he was handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser.

In the suit, Kiyean Brown, 30, of Glenolden, claims that the lasting effects of the tase to his testes are driving him nuts, but an attorney for one of the defendant officers says the claim is poppycock and that the officer tased Brown in his thigh, not his gonads.

Brown is seeking more than $1 million for the damages he claims to have suffered to his family jewels. The suit, which was filed in October, is scheduled for a settlement conference next month, according to court records.

The incident in question began when police were called to a fight at the Red Lantern Tavern in Glenolden about 2 a.m. Nov. 10, 2012.

Brown was at the tavern that night and was drinking, but his lawyer, J. Conor Corcoran, claims his client had nothing to do with the fight and left the bar to avoid trouble.

While Brown was walking home, he was stopped by then-Glenolden Officer Joseph Juisti who claimed Brown was "yelling and screaming obscenities," according to Brown's arrest affidavit.

"My client starts to curse him out under his breath, which the cop deserved," Corcoran said. "And because my client took up his First Amendment rights and basically told him to go f--- himself, they arrested him."

Other cops arrived and tried to place Brown into custody for public drunkenness, but he became "combative" and it took five officers to handcuff Brown and put him in the back of a patrol car, the affidavit said.

However, while Brown's buttocks were in the car, his feet dangled outside of it. Police claim that Brown kicked one of the officers in the shin, but Corcoran said it was an inadvertent kick that occurred as Brown was trying to do what police ordered him to and get his 6-3 frame in the car. The officer was not hurt.

Following the kick, Brown was dry-stunned with a Taser by Ridley Township Officer Matthew Rowan. Dry-stunning is when a Taser is placed directly against the body as opposed to deploying the wire prongs.

Attorney Robert DiDomenicis, who represents Rowan on behalf of Ridley Township, said Brown was dry-stunned once in his thigh for three seconds, not in his testicles, as the suit claims.

As a result of the incident, Brown was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and public drunkenness. He eventually pleaded guilty to simple assault and resisting arrest.

Corcoran said his client only pleaded guilty to escape the aggravated assault charge, which could have led to jail time.

"He could have done time for something as simple and innocent as complying with a police officer's request," Corcoran said. "It wasn't smart to roll the dice on this. He could have gone away."

But DiDomenicis said Brown's guilty plea proves that he wasn't complying with officers' requests, so they were well within their right to tase him. "You wouldn't use a Taser on someone who is passive," he said.

Corcoran said his client faces a host of troubles as a result of the tasing. He claims Brown's scrotum was cauterized, that police "burnt a hole in his nuts" and that Brown has had a hard time controlling his bladder ever since.

But DiDomenicis isn't buying the claim and wants Brown to be evaluated by a physician.

"Our position is that he wasn't burned by any Taser, especially one that was only used for three seconds - and he was wearing jeans," DiDomenicis said.

When asked if his client shouted racist remarks at the police during the incident, as the arrest affidavit claims, Corcoran said he doubted it.

"If my client said anything racist to them, they're lucky that's all he said," Corcoran said. "They'd just nuked him in the balls! If somebody does that to you, you can call them whatever you want. That's my opinion."

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