DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The parents of a man who died after being shocked multiple times with stun guns by Worth County deputies have filed a lawsuit claiming that excessive force was used.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday by Larry and Cheri Zubrod accuses the deputies of “punitively and sadistically” using excessive force in subduing their son, 39-year-old Michael Zubrod. The Northwood man was subjected to several stun gun jolts from deputies responding to a domestic dispute in September 2013 in which authorities said Zubrod was using a hammer to hit his girlfriend.
The suit said at least nine shots by the stun guns struck Zubrod while he was on his back and that he showed “obvious signs of disorientation.” Zubrod also was shocked using a Taser “for a second round of continuous bursts of electricity” after his hands were restrained and he posed no risk of harm, according to the lawsuit.
Zubrod stopped breathing at the scene and was pronounced dead shortly after he was taken to a Mason City hospital.
An autopsy report found Zubrod had a heart condition and methamphetamine in his system when he died, the Mason City Globe-Gazette reported. His cause of death was listed as “cardiac arrhythmia following an altercation with law enforcement in the setting of acute methamphetamine intoxication.”
Worth County Attorney Jeffery Greve cleared the deputies of any wrongdoing following an investigation from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and names the county, Sheriff Jay Langenbau and several deputies as defendants. Langenbau said he hadn’t seen the lawsuit yet, and declined to comment.
Greve also has declined to comment to The Des Moines Register, along with Zubrod’s parents.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, https://www.desmoinesregister.com
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