SUPERIOR, WI (February 9, 2026) – On Monday, a judge ruled that a Superior Police Department (“SPD”) officer violated Ian Cuypers’s constitutional rights when she tased him during a traffic stop after he was pulled over for driving the wrong way down a one-way street while making a food delivery for DoorDash.
Cuypers filed a multi-count federal civil rights lawsuit on October 24, 2024 against three SPD officers and the City of Superior. The suit alleged that the officers committed multiple violations of Cuypers’s civil rights during what should have been a routine traffic stop.
As alleged in the complaint, on February 28, 2024, then 22-year-old Cuypers was driving for DoorDash when he accidentally made a wrong turn down a one-way street and was pulled over by an SPD officer. Cuypers pulled over immediately, but the officer nevertheless called for backup and four other SPD officers responded. Two officers pointed their firearms at Cuypers, despite lacking any basis to believe that Cuypers was armed or posed a threat or that he had committed anything more than a minor traffic violation. Cuypers complied with the officers’ commands to exit the vehicle and back towards them with his hands up, but the officers continued to unnecessarily escalate the situation, shouting aggressive, at-times conflicting commands. Officer Taylor Gaard then tased Cuypers in a completely unjustified use of force despite the fact that Cuypers had his hands in the air and posed no threat to the officers or anyone else. Cuypers suffered excruciating pain and was terrified that the officers would kill him. The officers tried to cover up their wrongdoing by citing Cuypers for resisting or obstructing a police officer. A jury acquitted Cuypers of that charge on July 16, 2024.
The incident was captured on the officers’ body cam, which received hundreds of thousands of views online.
In his lawsuit, Cuypers brought claims for excessive force (based both on the use of the taser and the pointing of the firearms), failure to intervene, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Both parties filed motions for summary judgment. Summary judgment is a legal procedure in which a judge can decide an issue without a trial because there are no genuine issues of fact for the jury to decide and the issue can be decided as a matter of law. When a judge grants summary judgment, the judge has determined that no reasonable jury could find in favor of the other party, so a trial is not necessary.
On Monday, federal Judge James D. Peterson of the Western District of Wisconsin granted Mr. Cuypers’s motion for summary judgment on the excessive force claim relating to the use of the Taser, concluding that, as a matter of law, the use of the Taser was unconstitutional. The judge concluded based on the videos and the other evidence, that “[n]o reasonable jury could find that the use of a [T]aser was reasonable” and that “[t]his is not a close case.” The judge said:
“The law is clear that it is unreasonable to deploy a taser against a non-violent suspect who is not actively resisting or otherwise posing a threat. The video evidence leaves no doubt that Cuypers was not actively resisting and did not pose a threat to the officers or anyone else on the scene. Gaard’s use of a taser was objectively unreasonable and violated clearly established law.”
The judge further determined that the officers lacked probable cause to charge Mr. Cuypers for obstructing an officer. In addition, the judge denied Defendants’ motion on the remaining claims, concluding that a jury could find for Mr. Cuypers on those claims, which will proceed to a trial.
“We are pleased with the judge’s decision, which confirms what we have been saying since the beginning of this case: that Officer Gaard’s use of a Taser against Mr. Cuypers, an unarmed and non-threatening DoorDash driver who made a simple driving error, was an obvious violation of Mr. Cuypers’s constitutional rights,” stated Nora Snyder of the People’s Law Office, one of Cuypers’s lawyers.
Cuypers stated, “I brought this lawsuit to seek justice for what happened to me and to try to make sure that it does not happen to anyone else. I feel vindicated by the judge’s decision.”
The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Cuypers is represented by Attorneys Nora Snyder, Ben Elson, and Brad Thomson with the People’s Law Office based in Chicago. The People’s Law Office has been defending its clients’ constitutional rights and fighting against police violence since 1969.
A copy of the judge’s summary judgment decision, the complaint, and the videos are available here.
