Stun gun incident may cost county $56,000

Note: This story has been updated with news of the commission's settlement. Read the update here.

An El Paso County Sheriff’s deputy, who twice shot a Peyton man with a stun gun during a traffic stop in 2007, may end up costing taxpayers $56,000 to settle a lawsuit.

The El Paso County Commission will decide today whether to settle the federal lawsuit filed by Jiles Theron Bennett, 48, and his wife, Jill.

The couple sued Deputy Jerome Mercado-Vargas and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, claiming Bennett suffered bruises, lacerations, electrical shock injuries, burns and severe emotional distress from the Feb. 24, 2007 incident.

The incident began about 1:30 p.m. near the intersection of U.S. Highway 24 and Meridian Road east of Colorado Springs when Mercado-Vargas clocked Bennett’s black Chevrolet truck doing 33 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Suspecting Bennett might be driving so slowly because he was drunk or on drugs, Mercado-Vargas said he pulled him over. The deputy also alleged Bennett’s truck twice crossed the center line, and a brake light was out.

Bennett said Monday night he was driving slowly because it was snowy and slick. Two other brake lights were working, according to court records.

In his written report of the incident, Mercado-Vargas said Bennett swore at him as he took out his license and registration.

“He appeared to be agitated and getting more worked up,” Mercado-Vargas wrote in his report.

But Bennett said initially he was amused. “I thought this was a first,” he said. “Here I’m going to get a ticket for going too slow in a blizzard.”

Mercado-Vargas asked Bennett to step out of the vehicle, the sheriff’s report stated. “He (Bennett) drew in a breath, his chest was ‘bowed’ out, and he tightened his hands into fists keeping them down at his sides.”

“Don’t square off on me,” the deputy said.

Bennett said the deputy then shoved him to the ground. As Bennett, who said he is about 90 pounds lighter than the deputy, struggled to regain his balance, the deputy stunned him twice in the chest with his Taser.

“I honestly thought he shot me,” Bennett said.

Bennett said the deputy then kneed him in the back of the neck, grinding his face into the dirt and telling him to “shut the (expletive deleted) up.”

But Mercado-Vargas said in his report that it was Bennett who was out of control and that he used a knee to pin him by one of his arms.

“I’ll have your job when this is all over,” Mercado-Vargas quoted Bennett as saying. About that time, another deputy arrived on the scene. He also kneed Bennett, this time in the buttocks, to immobilize him, according to the report. Bennett was then restrained by two sets of cuffs.

One of Bennett’s acquainances, Brian Becker, witnessed the arrest, the sheriff’s report said.

“I know he can have a hot temper,” Becker reportedly told the deputies. “But was this needed?”

El Paso County Court Judge Karla Hansen ruled that Mercado-Vargas did not have probable cause to stop Bennett.

The judge found Bennett not guilty of charges of obstructing a peace officer and two traffic violations.

The county appealed the ruling, and the case was sent back for a retrial. A jury found Bennett not guilty.

The couple then sued in federal court, claiming civil rights violations.

Sheriff Terry Maketa, contacted Monday by telephone, said it was “inappropriate” for him to comment.

“After it’s been settled, I’ll be more than happy to talk to you about it,” Maketa said.

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Call the writer at 476-4825.