Coroner unsure if Taser contributed to death

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

The Clark County coroner's office has not yet determined what killed a 47-year-old man who died shortly after a Metro Police officer shocked him with a Taser gun during a struggle Monday night.

Investigators believe Keith Tucker was under the influence of drugs, possibly PCP, which might have caused him to act violently toward two patrol officers, police said. Tucker's cause of death is pending the results of a toxicology test, a coroner's office spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Tucker lived in a condominium with a 64-year-old roommate and his father, Sanford Tucker, who owned counterculture clothing stores in the 1960s in San Francisco and now sells '60s memorabilia, along with his son, through a Web site.

Reached by phone Tuesday, the roommate declined to comment and referred all questions to Sanford Tucker, who was out of town.

The roommate called 911 about 10:30 p.m. Monday reporting that Tucker was "violent and very disturbed," hitting the walls of their condominium and talking to himself, Deputy Chief Greg McCurdy said.

Tucker was sitting on his bed talking incoherently when officers arrived at the home in the 3900 block of Edgemoor Way, near Sandhill and Flamingo roads, police said.

The officers, whom McCurdy said were not specially trained in crisis intervention, "tried to reason with him," Sgt. Rocky Alby said. But Tucker punched one of the officers in the chin and kicked an officer in the chest and legs, Alby said.

Tucker continued to resist even while the officers used their batons and a Taser gun to subdue and handcuff him, police said.

Police stopped shocking Rogers after he was handcuffed, Sheriff Bill Young said.

Tucker began having difficulty breathing and was pronounced dead at Desert Springs Hospital despite lifesaving efforts by police and medics.

Young said Tucker was shocked with the Taser "more than once but less than five times." Data on how many times the weapon was deployed and how long the shock lasted was still being downloaded and evaluated by investigators Tuesday.

The officer used the "drive-stun" method, in which the officer applies the weapon directly to the person.

The officer's actions complied with the department's use-of-force policy, Young said.

Although Young said he felt the Taser is "a good piece of equipment," he is in the process of evaluating the practice of using Tasers on people who are handcuffed.

Metro's use-of-force policy allows this, but Young expressed concern after a combative man, William Lomax, died in February after being stunned with a Taser while cuffed. The "drive-stun" method was also used on Lomax.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said that "it's disappointing that the sheriff is stuck on" the issue of whether to use a Taser on someone in handcuffs, which Peck called "a no-brainer."

"The real issue is determining the circumstances under which a Taser can be used and how many times it can be used," Peck said.

There have been about 300 incidents between August 2003 and July 25, 2004, where officers used Tasers with positive results, Young said.

"In many of these cases the officers were convinced that the Tasers saved lives," Young said.

Peck said the officers who responded to Tucker's home should have been ones with experience in dealing with people who have mental health issues because "we don't even know if (Tucker) was breaking the law before the police arrived."

"It's possible they could have diffused the situation and avoided the need to use high levels of force" if they had this specialized training, Peck said.