A Florida man has been fighting for his life after he was ‘cooked alive’ earlier this year when police allegedly shot him with a stun gun, according to his lawyers.
Jean Barreto, 26, has third-degree burns over 75% of his body following a confrontation with sheriff’s deputies in February, .
‘While being cooked alive, Mr Barreto sustained third degree burns on approximately 75% of his body, front and back from his feet to the bottom of his neck,’ his attorney, Mark Nejame said.
His lawyers claim that he was returning from a gathering with fellow motor-bikers that had been broken up by police when he stopped at a Wawa gas station.
According to police, they were trying to arrest Barreto because he was part of a group of bikers who were pointing guns at other people.
Barreto’s attorney says he was ‘bum-rushed from behind’ by a sheriff’s deputy, knocking him and his bike over and spilling gas all over Barreto and the deputy.
Three more deputies arrived and one deployed their stun gun on Barreto, causing flames to engulf almost his entire body.
Surveillance video taken from a Wawa gas station in Orange County, Florida, shows flames erupting near one of the gas pumps during the attempted arrest.
A Fire Marshal’s Office report found that ‘the most probable cause of the fire was an electric discharge from the deputies deploying a department-issued Taser device,’
Barreto was never charged with any crime in connection to the bikers’ meet-up.
Barreto spent 10 weeks in the hospital and is still undergoing ‘excruciating’ treatment. He was expected to be placed in a medically induced coma this week to undergo debridement, his lawyer said.
His attorneys say that the sheriff’s office has not turned over body camera video and deputy reports, and are asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to take over the investigation and the US Justice Department to step in as well.
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