The family of Jim Rogers, who died in October 2021 a day after being tased repeatedly by the Pittsburgh police in Bloomfield, has reached a settlement with the city in a wrongful death lawsuit, an attorney said Wednesday.
Pittsburgh attorney Todd Hollis, who represents the family, did not provide any details of the settlement. He said more details would be announced at a news conference Thursday on Harriet Street where the incident occurred.
Rogers, 54, died on Oct. 14 — a day after he was shocked by a taser at least eight times by Pittsburgh police officer Keith Edmonds.
Police had been called to Harriet Street in Bloomfield after a person reported a man had taken a bicycle from a neighbor’s porch. Edmonds was the first officer on the scene.
According to a Pittsburgh Police internal Critical Incident Review Board report obtained by the Tribune-Review, Edmonds deployed his taser at least 10 times in less than four minutes.
After Rogers was shocked by the stun gun repeatedly, he was handcuffed and placed in the back of a Pittsburgh police vehicle where he remained for 17 minutes, asking for help, including saying repeatedly, “I need a hospital, I can’t breathe.”
He repeatedly asked for medical attention, and even though EMTs were called to the scene to decontaminate officers who got Rogers’ blood on them, they did not check on Rogers.
He was taken to UPMC Mercy, but became unresponsive on the way there.
Rogers died the next day.
The report is heavily critical of the three supervisors who responded to the incident, comparing them to bystanders.
“The second catastrophic failure in this incident was poor and ineffective supervision,” the report said.
Five Pittsburgh police officers were terminated as a result of their actions leading up to the death of Rogers.
Eight officers were recommended for discipline following the ultimately fatal interactions with Rogers. Three were reinstated.
A federal court docket on Wednesday did not yet reflect that any settlement has been submitted to court for approval.
