Settlement reached in Taser death case

? Relatives of a man who died shortly after Shawnee County deputies used a Taser on him at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in Topeka have settled a wrongful death lawsuit.

It was reported that U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil filed the order terminating the lawsuit this past week.

Fifty-nine-year-old Walter E. Haake Jr., of Lawrence, died March 29, 2008, after he was Tasered three times when he refused medical help in the plant’s parking lot.

The lawsuit had named deputies Jason Mills and Shayna Johnson, Sheriff Dick Barta and Shawnee County.

Shawnee County Commissioner Vic Miller said Friday he wouldn’t disclose the terms because that might jeopardize the agreement. Miller says the county commission still needs to vote on the agreement.