The family of a former sheriff's deputy who died after a struggle with jailers at the Stanislaus County Jail last year filed a civil lawsuit against the county and its sheriff in federal court this week, seeking $10 million in damages.
On April 11, 2009, jailers used Tasers and pepper spray to subdue Craig Prescott, 38, of Modesto during an altercation as jailers tried to move him to a safety cell. Prescott was taken to a Modesto hospital, where he was pronounced dead two days later.
In October, a district attorney's office investigation found that the jail deputies were not responsible for Prescott's death. That report described a struggle during which deputies shot Prescott with Tasers multiple times and used a pepper-ball gun as well.