ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Relatives of a 37-year-old man who died after his apprehension by St. Johns County sheriff's deputies early Tuesday morning say authorities used a Taser gun repeatedly to kill him.

The sheriff's office says they used necessary force to contain Lewis King (pictured, left), who had dragged one of their deputies for three blocks.

According to authorities, the incident began when deputies stopped a 2000 Chevrolet Suburban for a broken taillight at 1:30 a.m. in West St. Augustine.

During the stop, one of the deputies noticed that the driver -- later identified as King -- moved a container they suspected of containing drugs from his pants pocket to his jacket pocket. When the driver denied having the container, the deputy reached in the vehicle to point it out. At that point, the driver sped off with the deputy hanging on.

"He pleaded with the individual to stop the car. 'This isn't worth it. Stop, let me get out then you can continue on,'" St. Johns County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Kelshaw said, quoting the deputy.

The deputy -- who has not yet been named -- was able to free himself when the suspect slowed to make a turn. He was transported to Flagler Hospital with minor injuries.

The driver continued to flee and was pursued, then drove into the woods in the area of Helen and North St. Johns streets, where he took off on foot.

King later came out of the woods, but refused to comply with deputies' instructions, police said. In the process of taking him into custody, deputies used a Taser gun on him at least once.

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Sheriff's Spokesman Says Use Of Tasers 'Routine'

King, 39, complained of breathing difficulties after being taken into custody and died on the way to Flagler Hospital. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

King's family charges that deputies killed him because he's black, accusing them of shocking him repeatedly with a Taser.

"Ya'll killed my cousin. Ya'll know ya'll did," Lisa Lewis said. "You're trying to cover it up, but it ain't going to work."

A witness who didn't want to be identified told Channel 4 she saw the deputy using the Taser on King "continuously."

"You could hear it, you could hear him hollering," the woman said. "You could see the electricity."

Investigators said that what happened had nothing to do with race.

"Whoever has those Tasers in our department has been trained," Kelshaw said. "It's a pretty routine thing."