A Peyton man who was shot twice in the chest with a Taser stun gun by an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office deputy said he probably will accept a $56,000 settlement that the county commission agreed Tuesday to pay him in exchange for dropping a federal civil rights complaint.

“I’ve had enough. I want some closure on this whole thing,” said Jiles Theron Bennett. “It was a bad experience in my life and I want to move on.”

(Read the original story, posted Monday, here.)

Bennett figures he’ll have about $1,000 of the settlement left after he pays legal fees and medical expenses. He said he views the settlement as vindication.

Deputy Jerome Mercado-Vargas shot Bennett with a stun gun in February 2007 after stopping Bennett for driving too slowly near the intersection of Highway 24 and Meridian Road.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said the county decided not to proceed with the federal lawsuit because Mercado-Vargas is ill. In the lawsuit, Bennett alleged that the arrest constituted an unreasonable seizure and involved the use of excessive force, both violations of the Fourth Amendment.

But Bennett said he didn’t believe Maketa. “They’re not going forward because they don’t have a case. They know their deputy is in the wrong.”

The $56,000 settlement, which will be paid to Bennett, 48, and his wife, Jill, is a portion of what the case will cost county taxpayers.  El Paso County also paid approximately $105,000 in legal fees and other costs associated with the federal lawsuit, El Paso County spokesman Dave Rose said Tuesday.

The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s office also incurred the cost of two trials in county court involving the traffic citations and a misdemeanor stemming from the incident, as well an appeal. Bennett said he prevailed in both a trial before a judge and in a jury trial.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa declined to elaborate on the deputy’s illness, citing federal privacy laws. “Without his testimony, there’s nobody to defend the case,” he said.

Maketa said the deputy followed proper procedures using the Taser gun. “He felt the driver had become aggressive and utilized the Taser to gain control of the situation,” he said. “It was a justifiable use of the Taser.”

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El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa Photo by The Gazette