A teen and his family sued Monday stating a Cincinnati police officer used excessive force when a Taser shot caused the fleeing boy to fall and break his collar bone in 2017.

Diondre Lee and Antionette Lee along with their son, now 16, filed a lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court against Officer Kevin Kroger, the Cincinnati Police Department and the City of Cincinnati.

The lawsuit states police were attempting to apprehend the then-14-year-old when the teen fled.

During the chase, Kroger fired his Taser striking the teen in the back. This caused the teen to fall forward and break his collarbone, the suit states.

The family said Kroger pulled the trigger on his Taser a second time, shocking the teen again after the boy was already on the ground "without reasonable provocation or threat of harm."

Kroger never told the teen to stop, the suit states.

Cincinnati police policy says officers should give warning before using their Tasers whenever possible. The policy also states that fleeing alone is not enough justification to use a Taser.

The lawsuit states that in addition to the broken bone, the teen can no longer play sports, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and "anxiety in association with adult authority figure."

The family is asking for $2 million in compensation.

Cincinnati's police union president Dan Hils told The Enquirer Kroger was cleared of wrongdoing by an internal investigation, the police administration and the Citizen Complaint Authority.

Hils said in a Facebook post the teen had been in a stolen car, had drugs in his possession and refused to stop for police.

"It was a legitimate use of force," Hils said. "This lawsuit is outrageous."

The union will provide legal counsel to defend Kroger in the lawsuit.

"I consider him possibly the best street policeman I've ever had work for me," Hils said.

The Cincinnati Police Department declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Hils said he believes the lawsuit was prompted by reporting on police use-of-force by WCPO that he found to be subpar.

"You researched dozens and dozens of uses of force looking for something to sensationalize and now the taxpayers will have to defend a bull crap lawsuit," Hils wrote criticizing a WCPO reporter on Facebook Tuesday.

WCPO News Director Chip Mahaney defended the work of his investigative team. He said he hopes the work produced over the last two years has helped make the community a safer place for both residents and police.

“WCPO is proud of our I-Team’s award-winning reporting that has uncovered and examined practices involving police use of force in our area," Mahaney said. "One of our roles as journalists is to shine light into how our public servants conduct business on behalf of taxpayers and residents in our community."

Hils told the Enquirer the many times the media, the police administration and city leaders make the job of being a police officer harder by "Monday morning quarterbacking," giving unfair reviews and having unrealistic expectations of what is possible during high-stress incidents.

The Enquirer has requested body camera footage and police documents related to the incident and will update this story when those items become available.

In October, Officer Kevin Brown was given a seven-day suspension after he used a taser to stop an 11-year-old girl who fled after she was caught shoplifting. The City of Cincinnati also agreed to pay the family of that girl $220,000.

In that case, internal reviews of the incident did not clear Brown of wrongdoing. Federal authorities are also now investigating whether Brown violated the girl's civil rights.

The incident prompted the Cincinnati police to reform their Taser policy to guide officers against using their Tasers against young children.

More:Cincinnati police chief gives 7-day suspension to officer who used Taser on 11-year-old

More:Feds investigating officer who used Taser on 11-year-old girl

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