Lawsuit: Death of college student caused by police use of stun gun, ‘hog-tying’

Lawsuit: Death of college student caused by police use of stun gun, ‘hog-tying’

Death of college student caused by police use of stun gun, ‘hog-tying’

A family has filed a civil lawsuit against Upper Peninsula police officers and law enforcement agencies, alleging they are responsible for the death of 22-year-old Benjamin Walby.

The accusations stem from a March 23, 2024 police response to an early-morning noise complaint in Hancock, MI that led to officers hog-tying Walby and repeatedly shocking him with a stun gun.


The incident preceded his hospitalization and eventual death on April 4, 2024.

The complaint filed by Fieger Law says a neighbor of Walby’s called the police shortly before 2:30 a.m. on March 23, 2024, reporting “banging and incoherent yelling” from an upstairs apartment.

It notes officers approaching the door and hearing “nonsensical yelling” coming from inside the apartment, drawing firearms and stun guns.

Body camera footage then shows Walby chasing the officers down stairs, before being tackled to the ground by one officer and shocked with a taser by another.

After a struggle lasting several minutes, officers were able to restrain him with handcuffs. Fieger says Walby was hog-tied, shocked again, and continuously held on the ground on his stomach. 

The complaint further states alleges on-scene officers were not trained in proper methods of responding to calls involving mentally ill persons.


The law firm also maintains that Walby was suffering from a mental health crisis, not suspected of committing a crime, unarmed, and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

“None of the defendants intervened to stop the excessive force that was being applied,” read the complaint. “None of the defendants timely sought medical attention for the decedent. BENJAMIN WALBY’s heart stopped and he stopped breathing as a direct result of the force being applied.”

Walby, allegedly having suffered cardiac arrest, was transported to UPHS-Portage for treatment where hospital personnel got his heart started again. However, Fieger notes that doctors didn’t believe Walby would have a chance at recovery due to the lack of oxygen to his brain.

Walby was transferred to another hospital and pronounced dead on April 4, 2024. 

A breakdown of officer body camera footage from the scene by Fieger Law pinpoints at least 17 electrical charges of varying lengths deployed into Walby’s body. This was done through six points of contact, or probes, attaching the stun gun to the target. In each stun gun cartridge, there are two darts. 

The breakdown also points out moments in the video where Walby was drive-stunned, a move where the stun gun is pressed directly to the target’s skin. 

In the matter of five-and-a-half minutes, multiple officers were cited as pulling their stun gun triggers a total of at least 17 times, sending electricity through Walby’s body for at least 54 seconds.

Hog-tying is defined by MSP as “the practice of restraining a resistive suspect’s hands and ankles and securing them together behind the suspect’s back while placing the prisoner in a prone position.” 

Fieger’s analysis of the video alleges the use of hog-tying on Walby at the same time he was being stunned. Officers are described as tackling Walby, pinning him to the ground and subduing him while applying pressure. 

Seconds later, an officer is tying a loop around Walby’s feet raising them to connect them with his wrists. A different officer placed leg shackles on Walby in addition to zip-tie restraints on his feet. 

During this time, the complaint claims that the defendants did not allow the ambulance already on scene to render aid to Walby. 

“In sum total, Benjamin Walby was pressed to the ground on his stomach for approximately 18 minutes and 5 seconds before he was picked up and slid into a police car where he would lay on his stomach for an additional several minutes,” read the complaint. 

Fieger Law’s suit on behalf of the family of deceased 22-year-old Benjamin Walby alleges that over 10 involved police officers deployed excessive force, resulting in his death days later. Fieger maintains that Walby was suffering from a mental health crisis, not suspected of committing a crime, unarmed, and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 