Man paralyzed in police chase sues city

A man left paralyzed last year after getting shocked by an officer’s Taser and falling head-first from a chain-link fence has filed

lawsuit against the city of McDonough, the former offi- cer who chased him and the department’s former chief.

Jaylin Hughes, 19 at the time, was sitting in a car with three friends at a McDonough apartment complex on June 12, 2019, when police responded to a call about the young men smoking mar- ijuana.

Mu l tiple patrol cars responded and at least one officer emerged with his gun drawn, according to the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. Hughes exited the vehicle and took off running, authorities said previously.

According to the suit, he managed to scale a 5½-foot fence when former Lt. Doug- las Miller deployed his Taser, sending Hughes head-first into the ground below with no way to brace his fall.

Hughes had dreams of becoming a physical therapist, his attorney, Harold Spence, told AJC.com. Now, doctors aren’t sure he’ll ever walk again. According to the lawsuit, the fall fractured five of the seven vertebrae in Hughes’ neck, collapsed his lung and left him paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Between a 12-day hospital stay at Grady Memorial and two months of inpatient therapy at the Shepherd Center, Hughes’ family has incurred nearly $1 million in medical expenses so far, Spence said.

According to the attorney, Miller should have known better than to use his Taser on someone in an elevated position.

The lawsuit also alleges that Hughes’ rights were violated because at the time Miller deployed the Taser, Hughes was running away and posed no threat to the officer or anyone else. He also hadn’t formally been charged with any crime.