Coroner: Man who died after Taser incident had health issues

3-23-2011 Nevada:

A 44-year-old man who died after Las Vegas police shocked him with a Taser "several" times in December had cocaine and alcohol in his system, the Clark County coroner's office said Wednesday.

Las Vegan Anthony Jones died from cocaine and ethanol intoxication, the coroner's office said. But other factors contributed to his death, including "police restraining procedures" and an enlarged heart from obesity and mild hypertension, the coroner found.

Assistant Coroner John Fudenberg said that although science has not determined whether Taser guns kill, the use of the less-lethal weapon could have been a factor in Jones' death.

"It's safe to say that it could have possibly contributed to his death," Fudenberg said.

The coroner ruled Jones' death a homicide, meaning only that Jones died as the result of actions of others.

ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOP

Jones died in the early morning hours of Dec. 11. His confrontation with police began with a routine traffic stop less than a mile from his home and ended with a struggle with officers who used a Taser to subdue him.

The incident began when Jones' 1993 Lexus was stopped at about 1 a.m. in the 1000 block of West Lake Mead Boulevard, near Martin Luther King Boulevard. Police have not said what prompted the stop.

Police said Jones ran north across Lake Mead and jumped a wall into the backyard of an abandoned house in the 1000 block of Hart Avenue, about two-tenths of a mile from his car. When police caught up to him, he aggressively resisted them, and officers used a Taser "several times," according to police. The department has not said how many times Jones was shocked.

Jones was pronounced dead at Valley Hospital Medical Center.

The officers involved were Mark Hatten, who has been with the agency since January 2007, and Timothy English, who was hired in June 2008.

Hatten and English were placed on routine paid administrative leave after their encounter with Jones, but police spokesman Jacinto Rivera said they are back at work in positions in which they do not have "citizen contact." Their return to regular duty depends on the outcome of a coroner's inquest that has yet to be scheduled, he said.

CRIMINAL RECORD

Jones spent most of his adult life in prison, starting with a sexual assault conviction in 1982 when he was 16. He had several other offenses since then, prison records indicate.

On Aug. 25, Henderson resident Eduardo Hernandez-Lopez, 21, died after he was shot with a Taser by the Nevada Highway Patrol.

According to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, troopers were alerted to an accident on U.S. Highway 95 involving an individual fighting others there.

When officers arrived, they had an altercation with Hernandez-Lopez, whom they described as an "irate individual." During the altercation the man was shot with a Taser, and troopers later noticed he was not breathing. The coroner's office listed his death as "cardiopulmonary arrest during varied restraining procedures" and a homicide. The inquest is pending.

A Taser delivers 50,000 volts of electricity, which incapacitates the body.

A 2008 study by Amnesty International concluded that Las Vegas led U.S. cities in deaths involving law enforcement use of Tasers. The study found that between June 2001 and August 2008, seven people died after Tasers were used on them.

Six of the deaths involved Las Vegas officers, who began using Tasers in 2004. ..Source.. by Antonio Planas

Man killed by police grabbed cop's Taser

6-29-2011 Arizona:

The man shot and killed by Tucson police Monday evening reportedly wrestled a Taser away from an officer and attacked another one, police said Tuesday.

Anthony Salcido, 30, was shot by police officers just moments after he was suspected of shooting a fellow employee at the Overboard Seafood & Grill, 4105 N. Oracle Road, said Sgt. Diana Lopez, a Tucson Police Department spokeswoman.

After the first shooting, Salcido ran to a nearby apartment complex, where police say he fought with two officers, grabbed one of their Tasers and attacked them, Lopez said.

Officer Christopher Duenas was taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries sustained in the fight, she said.

Police were still investigating whether Salcido used the Taser on the officers, she said.

Investigators were waiting to interview Duenas, who was still in the hospital Tuesday afternoon, she said.

Officers initially were called to the restaurant after receiving reports of a person who had been shot, she said.

Officers found a 37-year-old man, an employee, lying on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant. He was expected to survive.

Two officers - Duenas, a 10-year-veteran, and Officer Nancy Fatura, a 12-year-veteran - soon confronted Salcido, who got into a fighting posture and made statements about not being captured alive.

One officer tried to subdue him with a Taser, but Salcido appeared unaffected by the stun gun and later grabbed the Taser before at least one of the officers shot him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives were still investigating a motive, but they said they found evidence suggesting drugs were being sold at the time and may have played a role in the shooting.

They found methamphetamines on Salcido and recovered the gun believed to have been used in the shooting.

According to Arizona Department of Public Safety records, Salcido was a Level 3 sex offender who was convicted of a sexual assault in Phoenix. Level 3 is considered the most at risk of re-offending.

However, his employer, restaurant owner John Willingham, said he met Salcido numerous times and remembered him as a "likable guy" and a "hard worker."

"He was a good, friendly guy. It's a shocker," Willingham said.

Salcido worked at the restaurant for more than a year, while the 37-year-old man had worked there for about three months, he said.

Willingham met that man once, he said.

Salcido was either working or had just gotten off work before the shooting, while the other man was not working at the time, Willingham said.

Police said the shooting took place inside the restaurant, but Willingham said the two men were outside when the shooting took place.

Salcido then dragged the wounded man into the restaurant and barricaded himself in a bathroom when he saw police arriving, he said. He then ran out.

Another employee also ran from the restaurant, Willingham said. But he said that employee was not involved in the shooting.

"He feared for his life, so he fled," he said.

Police didn't identify him as a suspect, but investigators want to talk to him, Lopez said. Willingham and his family run five Overboard restaurants, which were recently Long John Silver's before he converted them.

He said he was not aware of Salcido's sexual assault conviction or any drug activity at the restaurant.

The restaurants last week implemented a program to conduct extensive background checks on prospective employees, he said.

Before that, the restaurants didn't have the capability to conduct criminal background checks for hourly employees, he said.

A Police Department board of inquiry and the Pima County Attorney's Office will review the incident.

Officers Duenas and Fatura were placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure in officer-involved shootings. ..Source.. by Jamar Younger Arizona Daily Star

Sex Offender Dies After Arlington Police Use Taser

1-18-2010 Virginia:

ARLINGTON, Va. (WUSA) -- Right on the Metro platform at the Pentagon City metro station, a struggle took place just after 8 p.m. Sunday.

"The suspect was aggressive with the officer," said Detective Crystal Nosal with Arlington Police.

An Arlington police officer spotted 36-year-old William Randolph Bumbrey of D.C., who was wanted for larceny in connection with a local pharmacy.

"When the officer spotted him, he asked him to stop; the suspect became combative," said Nosal.

That's when the officer called for help.

"While the officer and suspect were alone, the suspect was still fighting. The officer deployed his taser, and the suspect continued to fight with the officer," said Nosal.

A second officer arrived and handcuffed the suspect. As standard procedure for taser deployment, the officers called for medics. Nosal says the suspect than began to have labored breathing. When medics transported him to the hospital, Bumbrey was pronounced dead.

Bumbrey was released from prison two years ago after being convicted of a sex offense and other crimes. Police say they recovered items on Bumbrey believed to have been stolen from the pharmacy.

One Metro passenger, Shawn Butler, believes police officers should not carry tasers: "I know he has a checkered pass, but to be tasered because of shoplifting and then die? That's crazy."

The medical examiner will determine if the taser had any affect on Bumbrey's death.

The Arlington Police Department is investigating the death of William Bumbrey.

The officer who used the taser is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation. ..Source.. by Peggy Fox

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Man Dies After Being Tasered by Police

2-7-2010 Virginia:

ARLINGTON, Va. - There are new questions after a man died during a struggle with police at a busy Metro stop.

Officers used a Taser on the man after he wouldn't cooperate at Pentagon City.

Arlington police are investigating their first-ever police-involved death involving a Taser.

The man, identified as 36-year-old William Bumbrey, a District resident, was struck with a Taser during a struggle with police.

Sources say Bumbrey, who appears on South Carolina's sex offender registry, had stolen several items from the Rite Aid pharmacy on South Hayes Street as it closed Sunday night.

A spokeswoman says an Arlington police officer saw a man matching the suspect's description, complete with pharmacy items in hand, and ordered him to stop. Police say Bumbrey ignored the officer's orders to stop.

"The suspect became combative and fought with the officer," said Det. Crystal Nosal, an Arlington County police spokesperson.

Sources say the scuffle between the officer and Bumbrey carried over into an elevator. A second officer came in. Bumbrey was handcuffed and he then starting having breathing problems.

Bumbrey was pronounced dead at the hospital. Arlington police use the Taser-brand X-26.

We tried to contact Bumbrey's father, but we're told he was dealing with the medical examiner and other such matters. We're still awaiting word from the ME on the exact cause of death.

Both officers remain on routine paid administrative leave. ..Source.. Markham Evans

FL- Naked sex offender, Tasered by deputies, dies

3-21-2008 Florida:

A naked and belligerent Deerfield Beach man, who Broward sheriff's deputies Tasered when he resisted arrest, died in BSO custody early Friday.

James Garland, 41, was unconscious when he arrived at Imperial Point Hospital in a BSO cruiser some time after 4 a.m., BSO said. He was later pronounced dead.

The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy Friday to determine Garland's cause of death. BSO has directed the office not to release its findings at this time, said Wendy Crane, a medical investigator.

According to a BSO release, here's what happened:

At about 4:15 Friday, deputies responded to a 911 call at the Hillsboro Boulevard bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway of a man walking in traffic, waving his shirt.

When they arrived, they found Garland strolling naked past the Ocean Boulevard Condominium at 191 SE 20 Ave.

Deputies tried to detain him, but he became angry, and refused to comply. Deputies hit him with a stun gun, and were able to take Garland, who became violent, into custody.

Garland continued to rage. Paramedics, fearful of his behavior, refused to transport him to the hospital, and so he was taken by a marked patrol car.

At some point, Garland lost consciousness, and later died.

He has had 10 arrests in Broward County in the last six years, mostly for drug-related offenses. Garland spent six months in prison from late 2002 through early 2003 following a possession of cocaine conviction.

It is not known if cocaine was in his system at the time of his death, said Jim Leljedal, a BSO spokesman.

The police use of Tasers has drawn national scrutiny, as the practice has led to dozens of deaths in recent years. In many instances, those killed were high on cocaine, a stimulant, at the time that 50,000 volts are sent through their body.

In January, a Coral Gables man died after he was Tasered. Police say Xavier Jones, 29, was causing a commotion and resisting arrest at a Coral Gables hotel when he was Tasered.

Garland, of 167 NW 2nd St., is a registered sex offender. In 1991, a Grady, Ga., jury convicted him of molesting a child, according to Florida's sexual offenders database. ..more.. by

Man Dies After Being Tasered By Deputies

12-10-2007 Georgia:

WALTON COUNTY, Ga. -- A man is dead after Walton County deputies say they had no choice but to taser him. Deputies say Leroy Patterson, Jr. was being questioned about a sexual assault and became belligerent. He died shortly after being tasered.

"Well, I'm confident that the deputies did everything they felt they needed to do in that situation at that particular time," said Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman.

Chapman is standing by a deputy, who he said tasered 41-year-old Patterson early Monday morning. Patterson died less than an hour later.

"We have some of the best trained deputies in the state of Georgia," said Chapman. "We're constantly training."

Chapman said the incident happened at the Green Acres subdivision on Virginia Court and Monroe. He said a patrol deputy and a detective approached the suspect's blue truck -- which he lived in. It was parked on a co-worker's property. Chapman said when they questioned Patterson about a woman's sexual assault charges, he became combative.

"He began throwing evidence out of the truck. He was subdued by the deputies and a Taser was used," said Chapman.

The sheriff said while the suspect was in custody, he began having seizures. He was pronounced dead at the Walton County Hospital.

The case is now in the hands of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

"I just ask that we don't make any judgments at this time. Let's wait until the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducts their investigation and determines the facts and then go from there," said Chapman.

The sheriff said it's standard for the GBI to handle cases involving deputies.

Officials are not releasing the deputy's name but he has been placed on administrative leave with pay -- which the sheriff said is also standard practice.

The GBI said an autopsy on Patterson is planned for Tuesday. Toxicology reports could take several weeks. ..more.. by WSBTV.com