Back in February, a Florida native named Jean Barreto (26) was severely burned at a gas station, after a deputy sheriff deployed a taser on him, while he was pumping fuel into his motorcycle. Bystanders who witnessed the horrific incident would go on to describe what they saw as a man being "cooked alive." As a result, Barretto is fighting for his life on a hospital bed with third-degree burns over 75% of his body, his legal team is fighting for his rights in court and the Florida Deputy in question, David Crawford, is facing culpable negligence charges. 

While surveillance footage captured a majority of the incident, in which Barreto and a police officer both went up in flames, it is still unclear which side should foster the brunt of the blame. According to police reports, Barretto and a band of motorcyclists caused quite the disturbance in the middle of traffic, when they decided to purposefully pop wheelies, ran red lights, and drove on the wrong side of the road for self-entertainment. On the contrary, when Deputy Crawford approached Barreto for questioning about the aforementioned incident at a gas station, he presumed that Barreto had a weapon on him and neglected to follow basic protocol when dealing with police weaponry around gasoline. Therefore, both men are facing criminal charges for their behavior. But in the case of Barreto, his attorneys believe that he has a strong case for a civil lawsuit.

Barreto's attorney, Mark Nejame, is claiming that his client was "bum-rushed from behind" by the sheriff's deputy, which caused his dirt bike to fall over and spill gas on both of them before the cop deployed his taser. 

The surveillance footage of the incident was just released a few days ago and it may go a long way in helping Barreto's case against the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. But nevertheless, he is still facing charges for attempting to elude law enforcement, reckless driving, and resisting an officer, even though his doctors will likely induce him into a coma this sometime this week.

“He is wrapped and unwrapped in gauze daily, bleeding profusely still as he doesn’t have the requisite amount of skin to contain his body fluids,” said Barreto's lawyers in a statement.

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Source: MSN