Colo. county settles suit over Taser death

FORT COLLINS, Colo., June 3 (UPI) -- A Colorado county has agreed to pay $225,000 to the family of a man who died after being stunned repeatedly with a Taser.

The money from Larimer County will go into an annuity for the daughter of Timothy Mathis, The Denver Post reported Wednesday. County Attorney George Hass said the daughter can gain access to the principal on her 21st birthday.

Sheriff's deputies stunned Mathis, 35, a number of times in 2005 after they encountered him in Loveland. Mathis, who was bloody and behaving unpredictably, refused to show deputies his hands.

Mathis, after being hit once with a Taser, picked up a large stone and began advancing on the deputies. He was stunned again and collapsed while deputies were arresting him.

While the coroner ruled Mathis's death a homicide, the deputies were cleared of any crime.

"I think police departments should have concerns about lawsuits like this," said Martin Beier, a lawyer who has sued on behalf of the family of another man who died in Lafayette, Colo., after being stunned by authorities.