$100M FedEx Biker Cooked Alive by Taser
Florida man ‘cooked alive’ after being tased by cop at gas station: lawyer
By Snejana Farberov
New York Post
May 18, 2022
A Florida man is clinging to life with horrific burns to 75% of his body after a sheriff’s deputy Tased him at a gas station, sparking a fire that “cooked” the victim alive, according to his lawyers.
Jean Barreto is still recovering from the third-degree burns from the confrontation with sheriff’s deputies in Orange County on Feb. 27, his attorneys said Tuesday.“He is wrapped and unwrapped in gauze daily, bleeding profusely still as he doesn’t have the requisite amount of skin to contain his body fluids,” the lawyers wrote of the burns, which cover three-quarters of his body.
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By then, at least three other Osceola County patrol vehicles responded to the scene.
One of the arriving deputies saw Barreto and his colleague on the ground, and deployed his Taser against the biker, engulfing most of his body in flames, as seen in the harrowing footage. The deputy who tackled Barreto also suffered third-degree burns to half of his body.
Barreto’s lawyers said that the fireball, “caused by the reckless, foolish, unnecessary” tasing,” left four people injured, among them three deputies. They claim Barreto was “cooked alive” in the flames.
Nearly three months later, Barreto is still undergoing “excruciating” treatment, his lawyers said.
“He is without skin on most of his body, his skin having been burned off,” they stated.
In the coming days, Barreto will be placed in a medically induced coma to remove necrotic tissue from his body in preparation for a groundbreaking procedure at Orlando Health, which has involved growing human skin tissue from a 4-inch patch of unburned skin on Barreto’s body to be used for grafting.
Last week, the Florida state fire marshal released an investigative report, which concluded that an electric discharge from the deputy’s Taser was the likely cause of the fire, WFTV reported.
But the report also found that the fire was ignited by accident.
Barreto was never arrested or charged with any crime in connection with the bikers’ meetup.His lawyers said that Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez has so far refused to turn over key evidence in this case, including body camera footage and the deputies’ incident reports.
“This ‘transparent’ department has also failed to disclose such information to the media,” the attorneys noted. “This is especially alarming since the Osceola County Sheriffs Office is conducting its own internal investigation rather than turning this horrific matter over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which it should have.”
Attorneys Mark NeJame and Albert Yonfa called on the US. Department of Justice to launch a separate federal probe into the sheriff’s office’s protocols, practices, policies and procedures.
“Again, another young male of color has been subjected to gruesome and shocking treatment at the hands of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and an independent investigation has now become necessary to ensure that equitable justice is achieved for all involved,” they said.
Woman describes how stepson was badly burned in confrontation with Osceola deputies at gas station
Barreto’s stepmother, Frances Aponte, said she had to demand to see Barreto that night in the hospital and that doctors told her he was unlikely to survive the next day.
At the time, she said the family didn’t know what happened, why Barreto was in the hospital or why deputies were standing guard at the door outside his room at the hospital.
She said almost three months later she still doesn’t know. Barreto has never been charged or arrested.
Whatever it was, Aponte said the family deserves to know because it nearly cost Barreto his life.
“He is not going to be the same,” Aponte said.
When Aponte saw a missed call from Barreto’s girlfriend, she knew something was wrong.
“I was like, somebody hit him and, or he was involved in a crash or something like that. But I never realized something that big happened that night,” she said.
At the time she had no idea Barreto was riding with a group of bikers and said when she got to the hospital nobody would tell her what happened or let her see him.
“They said I had to wait until Monday, that Monday, to get information about my son because they said he was under arrest,” Aponte said.
When she did finally get in to see Barreto in the hospital, he was wrapped from neck to ankles in bandages.
She said the first thing he said was, “The police burned me.”
On Tuesday, Barreto underwent his sixth surgery since the fire.
She said there is no indication when he will leave the hospital and that he has a long way to go to recover.
Aponte said Barreto drives for FedEx and loves it. She said he keeps asking about his job and if it will still be there for him when he gets out.
Florida deputy, man ‘cooked alive’ in Taser incident while pumping gas both facing charges
Sheriff says a Florida deputy deployed a Taser near a gas spill. A suspect was 'cooked alive,' according to his lawyer.
Sources: Charges recommended against Osceola County deputy, motorcyclist following gas station fire
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