Farmington Man Tased At His Home Settles Lawsuit With Sheriff's Office

Farmington Man Tased At Home Settles Lawsuit

What started as a routine DWI investigation, ended with a Farmington man getting tased last year. He sued the San Juan County Sheriff’s Department and now, he has settled his lawsuit.

Back in March 2019, a San Juan County Sheriff’s deputy tased Joshua Gonzales during what was supposed to be a DWI investigation. After the incident, he sued the department. More than a year later, Attorney Joe Kennedy says they have finally settled. “It was a $10,000 settlement for Joshua,” he says.

At the time, Gonzales was only charged with resisting arrest and concealing his identity after refusing to tell the deputy his name. Those charges were later dropped and he was never charged with DWI.

“If the person in front of him is not intoxicated, has no signs of alcohol intoxication, then the investigation’s over,” says Kennedy. As we know, that’s not what happened.

While Gonzales isn’t a model citizen and even managed to pick up a new burglary charge back in March, Kennedy insists he’s on his way to becoming a better citizen and believes this settlement will help. “We’re happy with the settlement because our client is happy,” he says.

Kennedy is also hoping the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office re-trains all their deputies.