Family files suit over beanbag death
The family of a man killed when shot by a McHenry County sheriff's deputy using a weapon designed only to stun is suing the sheriff's department and nine of its officers, claiming improperly trained deputies used excessive force on a harmless man.
The nine-count lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, seeks an undisclosed amount of compensatory and punitive damages for the 13-year-old daughter of David S. Maxson and his estate.
Maxson, 43, of Wonder Lake, died Sept. 21, 2006, five days after a standoff inside his home ended with a sheriff's deputy shooting him three times with a shotgun loaded with beanbags.
The beanbags, sheriff's police said, are considered a "less-than-lethal" means of subduing a dangerous subject. But one of the bags pierced Maxson's skull, causing a fatal brain injury.
The lawsuit alleges deputies provoked the circumstances that led to Maxson's death, botched a crisis situation and used unnecessary force to subdue him.
"They confronted him and caused a situation that escalated into unnecessary violence," Daniel E. O'Brien, an attorney for the girl, said. "There is ample evidence of excessive force here. It just didn't have to happen."
In addition to the sheriff's department, the suit names Sheriff Keith Nygren, four department supervisors, four deputies, the village of Wonder Lake, the Wonder Lake Police Department and its police chief, David Mahlke, as defendants.
Undersheriff Gene Lowery this morning said he had not yet seen the lawsuit but stood by earlier statements that deputies handled the standoff properly. An investigation by the Illinois State Police also cleared the deputies and called their actions justified.
"I am confident in our training, our personnel and our decision making in these circumstances," Lowery said. "We will defend ourselves in court."
The standoff began the afternoon of Sept. 16, 2006, when sheriff's deputies and Wonder Lake police officers responded to Maxson's home on reports he had been threatening suicide.
Officers said they tried unsuccessfully to get Maxson out of the home, and during an ensuing standoff, sheriff's police said, Maxson grabbed a butcher's knife and lunged at a deputy.
A second deputy responded by shooting Maxson in the chest, back and head with the beanbag projectiles, officials said.
The suit disputes allegations Maxson threatened anyone other than himself, and blames the violent outcome on the deputies.
"Despite the express requests of (Maxson) to be left alone, the defendants continued to confront, provoke and threaten the decedent without any reasonable effort or attempt to control the situation without violence," the suit states.
The lawsuit also claims sheriff's department supervisors do not train deputies in the proper use of force, "creating within the McHenry County sheriff's office an atmosphere of lawlessness in which deputy sheriffs, sergeants and agents employ excessive and illegal force and violence."
Earlier this year, however, Maxson's girlfriend said sheriff's deputies should not be blamed for his death. Testifying before a McHenry County coroner's jury, Patsy Ercoli said Maxson, her boyfriend of seven years, had told her that day he planned to kill himself and would "take down" anyone who tried to stop him.
O'Brien said he does not believe Ercoli's view will have any effect on the lawsuit.
"Her opinion of how police handled the situation is not really relevant," he said.