KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – An ex-police officer and former University of Tennessee football player is being sued for excessive force.
The Knoxville Sentinel News reports a lawsuit filed by Brent Edward Cox claims Geraldo Orta shocked him with an electric stun gun and stomped on his neck in 2018 after catching him huffing gas. Cox filed the suit against Orta and the police department in the spring.
The paper says Orta hasn’t filed a response and that a department spokesman declined to comment.
The suit claims Cox needed a new pacemaker and suffered long-term nerve damage after the arrest.
Orta denied stomping on Cox but admitted to activating his stun gun to scare him.
Knoxville Police Chief Eve Thomas fired the 26-year-old Orta in August for other reasons, less than a year after he started.