James Christopher Allen

Less-than-lethal force

James Christopher Allen died after being tasered as many as 18 times by police. He was unarmed during the incident. An officer went to Allen's home in response to a 911 call placed by Allen himself. Allen had told the operator that "demons were trying to get him." When the officer arrived on the scene Allen dove into the patrol car and grabbed the officer's shirt, saying that the officer "was a demon who needed to be killed." The officer forced Allen out of the car and ordered him to lie face down on the ground. Allen complied. A second officer arrived and began trying to handcuff Allen. But when Allen refused to put his hands behind his back, the two officers tasered him repeatedly in an attempt to make him comply. They eventually gave up, physically forced Allen into the handcuffs and placed him in the back seat of a patrol car. When the officers arrived at the police station, they discovered that Allen was unconscious in the back seat and that he had no pulse. Allen was pronounced dead at Bacon County Hospital. (Hoyt v. Cooks, 672 F.3d 972 (11th Cir. 2012)