Man dies after officer uses Taser in struggle

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 | 9:26 a.m.

A 47-year-old man died Monday night shortly after a Metro Police officer used a Taser on him during a struggle in a condominium near U.S. 95 and Flamingo Road.

The incident occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m., when a 64-year-old man called 911 reporting that his roommate was "acting unusual, tearing the house apart, punching the walls and seemed to be talking to an unknown person not there," Sgt. Rocky Alby of the department's homicide section said.

When officers arrived at the home in the 3900 block of Edgemoor Way, the man was sitting on his bed talking incoherently.

Officers tried to reason with him, Alby said, when he got up and allegedly punched one of the officers in the chin and kicked the officer in the chest and legs.

The two officers used their batons and a Taser gun to take the man into custody but he continued to resist, Alby said.

"He was not complying," Alby said. "He had to be focibly handcuffed."

It's not clear if the man, whose name has not yet been released, was shocked with the Taser after he was cuffed, Alby said.

The officers saw the man was having trouble breathing, so they began CPR and called emergency medical personnel, Alby said. The man was taken to Desert Springs Hospital where he died.