I Was Tasing Him When He Suddenly Died of Something Else Altogether

il ragno · May 1, 2011

Paging Angler to the white courtesy phone; paging Angler, to the white courtesy phone.

Connecticut man dies after being shot with Taser by police; man was acting up in hospital lobby

BY Philip Caulfield
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, May 1st 2011

A Connecticut man who was causing a ruckus in the lobby of a hospital died after being shocked with a Taser by police.

Police were called to Saint Mary's Hospital in Waterbury, Conn., at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday by employees complaining about a man causing a disturbance, the Hartford Courant reported.

Cops arrested the man and threw him in the back of their cruiser, where the man continued to act belligerent, police said.

One officer tasered the man and, shortly after, he fell unconscious.

He was rushed back to the hospital, where emergency crews tried to resuscitate him, but he died early Sunday morning.

Cops said an autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death. The man's name was not released.

The State's Attorney and the police said they were reviewing the incident.

Don't hold your breath on that 'review'; Connecticut cops have killed quite a few residents with 'safe' Tasers; in fact, the casualty rolls are pretty alarming. Thing is, the cops all use a medical loophole that no medical organization recognizes as legit to...ahem....get out of jail free.

Don’t Tase Me, Bro

Is “excited delirium” an actual cause of death or is it another phrase for death by Taser?

Gregory B. Hladky

David Mills died on April 21, 2007 on a street in Hamden. Efrain Carrion died on May 24, 2010 outside his suburban Middletown apartment.

Both men’s lives ended after they were repeatedly shocked by Tasers. In both cases, Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Ira J. Kanfer, declared the cause of death to be “excited delirium,” a controversial term not recognized by major medical authorities. Kanfer is one of four associates in the Connecticut Medical Examiner’s Office. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver II has declined repeated requests for an interview about the “excited delirium” findings.

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the town of Hamden by Mills’ mother, who insists police officers “killed my son.”

Carrion’s family argues Efrain was handcuffed and terrified when police Tasered him again and again. They’ve hired a lawyer who’s investigating the case, as are the Connecticut State Police.

Hamden and Middletown police deny they used excessive force. They say Mills and Carrion became violent and dangerous and were Tasered to prevent further injury to the officers involved and to themselves.

“Everybody thinks this [Taser] is the best thing since peanut butter,” says Jonathan Einhorn, a New Haven lawyer representing Mills’ mother, “and in fact it’s extremely dangerous.”

Einhorn says a finding of “excited delirium” has become a method for police and medical examiners to explain away Taser deaths.

“There is no such thing, medically,” he says of excited delirium. “This is a theory that Taser International [the manufacturer of the increasingly popular stun weapon] propounds all over the world. ... That’s their defense any time anyone dies by Taser. They claim it’s ‘excited delirium.’”

David McGuire, a staff attorney with the Connecticut American Civil Liberties Union, says his organization is disturbed by what appears to be a trend toward police use and misuse of Tasers. “Recent Taser deaths in Connecticut and across the country demonstrate this is not the non-lethal weapon it’s claimed to be,” he says.

The co-chairman of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, believes Connecticut needs statewide standards governing when and on whom Tasers can or should be used.

Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle says that would be an overreaction.

By setting up statewide regulations for police use of stun-gun weapons like Tasers, “You’re really handcuffing that [local police] agency, telling them how everything can be done with that one tool,” Tuttle argues. He says regulating Tasers but not use of batons or pepper spray makes no sense. “You’re allowing a department to have full control over all other tools … except one.”

Tuttle also disputes claims that excited delirium is becoming a favorite explanation for Taser-related deaths. “I would say the two aren’t linked,” Tuttle insists. “There is more myth and legend [than fact] surrounding the association.”

Not according to Amnesty International. A report on the group’s website warns that police use of Tasers is rapidly spreading and so is the excited-delirium cause-of-death finding.

Taser International boasts that more than 14,000 law enforcement agencies in 45 countries use the electronic weapon. Estimates about use in the U.S. range from 7,000 to 12,000 police agencies. Taser officials say 140 law enforcement agencies in Connecticut now have Tasers.

According to recent news reports, there have been some 300 deaths involving Tasers since 1999. Taser officials insist that represents only a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of times Tasers have been used without permanent injury.

Lawlor agrees Tasers can be useful to prevent serious injury to both police and people violently struggling against arrest. But he worries Tasers have become “too easy, too tempting, and there aren’t in my opinion clear guidelines for using them.”

Amnesty International cites a Canadian Police Research Centre study that found excited delirium “was gaining increasing acceptance as the main contributor to deaths ‘proximal’ to Taser use.” It is frequently applied to Taser death cases involving people high on cocaine or other drugs, who were obese and often suffering from psychiatric problems. The term is occasionally used in describing non-Taser-related deaths as well.

The Canadian study referred to one definition of excited delirium that included symptoms such as extreme excitement, hostility, exceptional strength and endurance. But the term has never been recognized by the American Medical Association or the World Health Organization.

“Though it’s not accepted in the medical field, in the forensic field, it’s not that uncommon,” Connecticut’s Dr. Henry Lee, a respected forensic investigator and teacher, says of the excited-delirium finding. Lee calls it “kind of an in-between term” used when pathologists have eliminated other possible causes of death.

David Mills was 26 in April 2007. He was 265 pounds, with a long history of psychiatric problems and drug use. When police arrived, Mills was scuffling with a friend on the street, shouting about demons and yelling he was on Angel Dust (PCP). He resisted police efforts to put handcuffs on him and began hitting and kicking officers, according to witnesses.

Sgt. William Sikorsky (now retired from the Hamden Police) arrived, borrowed a Taser from another officer, and repeatedly stunned Mills, who was struggling on the ground. An analysis included in the federal lawsuit found Mills was “drive stunned” as many as seven times over two minutes, with two bursts lasting 14 and 17 seconds, periods well beyond the standard 5-second automatic Taser setting. (Taser International warns police to “avoid prolonged or continuous exposure to the TASER electrical discharge,” saying it could have dangerous consequences for suspects.)

Mills stopped breathing moments later. Hamden police said there was no improper use of force and that several officers had to be treated for injuries after the incident.

Efrain Carrion was 35 the night he died. His family says he was having an anxiety attack and had hidden under his bed, so they called 911 for an ambulance. Police arrived, accompanied by a police dog, and put Carrion in handcuffs “for his safety.”

According to police, Carrion became violent, began choking the police dog, fighting with officers, running into the woods when he got outside. According to the family, Carrion fell off a chair, had trouble getting up and that’s when police started using the Taser and the dog. Family members say police kicked him down the stairs, that he begged officers to stop using the Taser. Carrion collapsed, stopped breathing, and EMTs couldn’t revive him.

Tuttle says Tasers have routinely saved lives of suspects and police and prevented many serious injuries.

Einhorn sees it differently. “It’s not a panacea for all situations,” he warns. “You certainly don’t keep Tasering someone until they die.”

Apocales · May 1, 2011

So many people in this country regardless of race have plenty of heart conditions. Why must they always use tasers whatever happened to the whole pepper spray thing?

Intrepid · May 1, 2011

Taser is still probably better than a billyclub or a big Maglite.

Apocales · May 2, 2011

No doubt that it is effective but the article reads about continued and over using the thing. Our hearts can only take so much electricity flowing through us.

Man Against Time · May 2, 2011

Intrepid said: ↑

Taser is still probably better than a billyclub or a big Maglite.

For the police who want to hide the fact that they are killing 'belligerent' people.

Apocales · May 2, 2011

These aren't just violent niggers they are tasering.

Intrepid · May 2, 2011

Nah, I agree with you both, as I sure its use gets abused. However, if I was a cop, instead of wrestling with some drugged out/loaded a-hole, I'd be using it myself to incapacitate the fucker. It'd prolly a kick to watch, too.

VisCOP · May 3, 2011

Connecticut man dies after being shot with Taser by police; man was acting up in hospital lobby

Rule of the day:

Don't fuck 'round in the hospital.

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I Was Tasing Him When He Suddenly Died of Something Else Altogether

il ragno Ramboona Never Fails!

Apocales libtard aloofness

Intrepid Sir Analogy Terrorist

Apocales libtard aloofness

Man Against Time Lunatic Prince archetype.

Apocales libtard aloofness

Intrepid Sir Analogy Terrorist

VisCOP Highlander

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