Wednesday, April 22, 2009

More Dead, Tased People

I'm stunned at how many post tasing deaths have occurred during the short time that I was offline (a little over a week):

Gary A. Decker of Kentucky, 50
:

Decker was found naked in the bathroom holding a seat that he had apparently torn from the toilet, Robinson said in a news release.

An officer shocked Decker with the Taser when Decker grabbed one of the officers, but the shock appeared to have no effect on him.

Officers were able to handcuff Decker and remove him from the bathroom. They called for paramedics, which Robinson said was mandatory procedure any time a Taser is used.

The officers said Decker was not responding to them as they waited for paramedics and he was unconscious when help arrived.

Robert Mitchell (or here) of Michigan, 16, 5', 125lbs:
Robert Mitchell, who had a learning disability, died after he was struck with a Taser by police in Warren, Michigan. The teen fled police after a traffic stop for an expired license plate and ran into an abandoned building to hide, where police struck him with the stun gun while apprehending him.
Unknown from Michigan (or here), 15 (this is also likely Robert Mitchell):

Warren -- A Detroit teenager who police say fled a traffic stop Friday died after being subdued with a Taser. He is the second Michigan teen to die following a Taser stun in less than a month.

Warren Police say they don't know why the 15-year-old bailed out of a Dodge Stratus he was riding in during the stop on Eight Mile near Schoenherr, leading officers on a half-block chase that ended in an abandoned house on Pelkey in Detroit.

The car was stopped for having an expired license plate.

In the scuffle, officers shocked the teen one time with a Taser, police said. Shortly after, he became unresponsive and died.

Warren Police defended their call to shock the teen, who they later learned suffered from asthma and took antidepressant drugs. "It's an unfortunate situation," Warren Deputy Police Commissioner Jere Green said. "Our officers are shaken by it; they are upset. They are humans just like anybody else."

Unknown from Australia, 39:
A 39-year-old man stopped breathing after he was tasered and capsicum-sprayed during a confrontation with officers in Alice Springs last night.

Police tried to revive him, but he died a short time later in hospital.

Michael Jacobs Jr. (or here) of Texas, 24, 150lbs:
FORT WORTH — Fort Worth police are investigating following the death of a mentally ill 24-year-old after police subdued him with a Taser stun gun.

The parents of Michael Jacobs Jr. called police to a Fort Worth home on Saturday morning, saying their son was causing problems, police said in a statement.

Police said an officer stunned him with a Taser when he became combative.

The officers planned to take Jacobs to John Peter Smith Hospital for a mental detention. He was handcuffed but began to have difficulty breathing, police said.

Police said he was later taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Suspect tased; suspect died.