In a shocking display of excessive force, an 80-year-old man from eastern Kansas found himself tased without warning by officers who chased him down for driving a mere three mph over the speed limit. This week, John Sigg filed a federal lawsuit against the Allen County sheriff’s office, detailing the excessive force used against him and seeking justice for the outrageous actions of those sworn to protect and serve.
On April 16, 2021, Sigg was clocked at 38 mph in a 35 mph zone by a lieutenant with the Iola Police Department in Allen County. Because his job description entails extorting, kidnapping, and caging people for arbitrary victimless crimes, the officer then decided to give “chase,” and multiple police vehicles trailed Sigg for several minutes.
Unaware that he was the subject of the pursuit, the elderly man drove to his family’s car lot and parked. As he exited his vehicle, he found himself surrounded by officers from various agencies — none of whom questioned the ridiculous and oppressive nature of pursuing an elderly man to extort him for slightly exceeding the speed limit.
The lawsuit alleges that two Chanute police officers pulled their guns on Sigg, who looked at them with confusion and raised his hands, as seen in a screenshot of body-camera footage. Then, without any warning, a now-former deputy with the Allen County Sheriff’s Office tased Sigg, despite the manufacturer of the TASER X2 explicitly cautioning against using the device on elderly individuals.
The abrupt tasing caused Sigg to fall “like a rock,” resulting in a head injury. His attorney, Randall Rathbun, wrote in the lawsuit that Sigg was disoriented and struggled to understand the situation. Even today, Sigg remains incredulous about the officers’ excessive use of force.
“Sigg mumbled and was hard to understand,” Rathbun wrote in the lawsuit. “As officers talked with him on the scene he indicated that he did not know what was going on and did not feel right.”
The lawsuit highlights that other officers on the scene recognized the deputy’s conduct as excessive and were disturbed by it yet they all failed to stop it. Sigg’s petition seeks a judgment of $250,000 in actual damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.
Read More: 80yo Man Chased Down, Tasered, Nearly Killed — For Driving 3 mph Over the Speed Limit