JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A police officer shot six times during a gun battle with a shoplifting suspect in January 2008 is suing Taser International Corp. and its distributor, claiming the city-issued Taser gun failed to fire.

Jared Reston, now back on the job as a detective with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, has received many honors over the past 18 months for his attitude and his will to live.

Reston was working off duty at the Regency Mall when he pursued 18-year-old Joel Abner and another shoplifting suspect down Atlantic Boulevard.

At a police review board hearing on the incident, Reston said his Taser gun didn't work.

"When device malfunctioned, (I) got close enough to physically subdue him," Reston told the panel.

That's when police said Abner pulled a gun and shot Reston six times at close range -- including one bullet to his jaw.

"I looked up and I can see the suspect continuing to shoot at me," Reston said. In spite of his injuries, Reston managed to shoot back, killing Abner.

After months of recovery and reconstructive surgery, Reston and his wife filed the lawsuit asking for damages in excess of $15,000. The lawsuit claims that the Taser gun "was negligently designed... and failed to fire, sound spark or deploy the probes."

Reston claims his serious injures might have been avoided if the Taser gun had worked.

The distributor, DGG Taser, declined comment on a pending lawsuit. By Monday afternoon, Taser International had not returned Channel 4's telephone calls.