PALM BAY, Fla. — The family of a man who died nearly a year after he was tased by Palm Bay police and fell from a fence has filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Palm Bay and two police officers.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the estate of Thomas Farley.
What the lawsuit alleges
According to the complaint, Farley was outside a Circle K on Babcock Street Northeast in Palm Bay with friends on June 28, 2024, when Palm Bay police Sgt. Samantha Missale responded to a call about several men standing outside the store.
The complaint says the caller did not report any criminal activity.
According to the lawsuit, Farley and others ran when police arrived.
The complaint alleges Missale later acknowledged the men had not committed a crime.
Attorneys said Farley was found near bushes and a fence outside the store and tried to climb a six-foot wooden fence.
According to the complaint, Palm Bay police Officer Derrick Mitchell deployed his Taser multiple times, including while Farley was climbing the fence.
The lawsuit alleges Farley was on top of the fence when Missale shouted, “Tase him,” and Mitchell fired his Taser.
The complaint says the electric shock incapacitated Farley and caused him to fall headfirst to the ground.
Attorneys said the fall broke Farley’s neck and left him paralyzed from the mid-chest down.
According to the lawsuit, Farley spent nearly a year as a quadriplegic before dying on June 19, 2025.
The complaint says Farley repeatedly told officers after the fall that he could not move, could not feel parts of his body and believed he had broken his neck.
According to the lawsuit, Farley told officers, “I can’t move,” “I’m paralyzed” and “I broke my neck.”
The complaint alleges officers moved Farley after the fall without properly securing his neck or spine.
According to the lawsuit, an autopsy concluded Farley’s cause of death was associated with the Taser deployment, fall from the fence, cervical spine fracture, high-level spinal cord injury, quadriplegia and complications.
The complaint says the manner of death was listed as homicide.
Police policy and prior Taser incident
The lawsuit alleges the use of a Taser against Farley at an elevated height amounted to unconstitutional deadly force under the Fourth Amendment.
Attorneys for Farley’s estate said Farley was not armed, did not threaten anyone and was not suspected of a violent crime.
The lawsuit also challenges Palm Bay police policy, alleging the department allowed officers to use a Taser on someone at an elevated height under “exigent circumstances,” instead of requiring deadly-force justification.
According to the complaint, Palm Bay police later found the officers’ use of force complied with department policy.
The lawsuit also alleges Mitchell had been involved in a prior Taser incident less than a year before Farley was injured. According to the complaint, Mitchell tased a man who was riding a moving dirt bike, causing him to crash and suffer broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
The complaint alleges Palm Bay police officials found Mitchell violated department policy in that earlier case, but the city did not fire him.
Lawsuit claims and city response
The defendants named in the new lawsuit are the City of Palm Bay, Mitchell and Missale.
The complaint includes claims of excessive force, failure to intervene, deliberate indifference to serious medical needs and wrongful death.
The lawsuit demands a jury trial.
“My son Thomas was the protector, the rock, and the heart of our family,” Pamela Farley, Farley’s mother and executor of his estate, said in a statement released by attorneys. “I am bringing this lawsuit so that Thomas’s name is remembered and so no other family has to live through what mine has.”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing Farley’s estate, said Farley “posed no threat” and “was simply running away from officers.”
“That should not be a death sentence,” Crump said in a statement.
Channel 9 previously reported on Farley’s case in 2024, when attorneys called for justice after Farley was left paralyzed following the police encounter.
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Channel 9 reached out to the City of Palm Bay for comment on the lawsuit.
A city spokesperson said Tuesday that there is no statement at this time.
The allegations in the complaint have not yet been proven in court.
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