Lawsuit over 2022 stun-gun gas fire accuses Osceola Sheriff Lopez of ‘sanctioning excessive force’

The man ignited in February 2022 by stun gun-wielding Osceola County deputies at a Wawa gas station is angling to put the sheriff’s department on trial, blaming Sheriff Marcos Lopez for a “culture of sanctioning excessive force.”

A 29-page civil complaint was filed Wednesday, almost two months after Deputy David Crawford was acquitted of misdemeanor culpable negligence in the criminal case emerging from the incident. At trial, he was accused of causing the gasoline blaze that left burns on most of Jean Barreto-Baerga’s body as well as the deputy’s own legs.

Read more coverage of Romanucci & Blandin and The Pendas Law Firm's federal lawsuit on behalf of Jean Barreto from Cristobal Reyes in the Orlando Sentinel.