Monday, August 03, 2009

Another Dead Post-Tased Person

Via TNT, this time In California:
A 27-year-old inmate died early Thursday after he was shocked with a Taser at a Riverside County jail.

The inmate was identified as Jonathan Michael Nelson of Rancho Cucamonga. He died after deputies had used a Taser on him for the second time within 24 hours.

Nelson had been arrested in Sage, an unincorporated community south of Hemet, about 6:30 p.m. on suspicion of resisting an officer, said Sgt. Mike Lujan of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Central Homicide Unit. Lujan said a man had called 911 reporting a suspicious vehicle off the road around the 43700 block of Cactus Valley Road. ...

When deputies arrived and contacted Nelson, he tried to run, and deputies quickly chased him down, tackled him and shocked him with a Taser, Lujan said.

Nelson was taken to Hemet Valley Medical Center and later released for booking at the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley, Lujan said. Nelson was booked into jail about 10:15 p.m. and placed in a holding cell but when he tried to harm himself early Thursday by hitting the cell door and banging his head, deputies moved him to a padded "safety" cell, Lujan said.

As deputies left the cell, Nelson became aggressive toward them and grabbed the leg of one, Lujan said. Deputies restrained him and shocked him with a Taser, Lujan said.

Nelson "became nonresponsive" and first aid was administered, a sheriff's news release said. He was taken by ambulance to Rancho Springs Community Hospital in Murrieta where he was pronounced dead at 3:15 a.m.

Actually, I think since Braidwood, I can write, "another person killed by a taser."

Taser fanboys will tell you that this death doesn't matter because the man was an inmate, maybe even a drug user. Taser fanboys really are the lowest form of life.

The truth is that the drugs don't matter. The size of the victim doesn't matter. What matters is this: suspect tased, suspect dies.