Coroner’s inquest probes Taser incident

David Kihara

Friday, July 8, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

A Clark County coroner's inquest jury was to decide today whether two Metro Police officers were justified in their actions when they used a Taser on a handcuffed 47-year-old man who died shortly afterward.

The coroner ruled the death a homicide after determining that the man, Russell Walker, died of cardiac arrhythmia during the restraining.

The officers facing the inquest, Officer Matthew Ruiz and Sgt. Cindy Rodriguez, attempted to restrain Walker outside the Western hotel at 899 Fremont St. on June 6. Walker had reportedly been causing a disturbance by tearing up money in front of the hotel's casino entrance.

Walker struggled with Ruiz before Rodriguez shocked Walker twice with her Taser so Walker could be placed in handcuffs, police said.

Walker allegedly kept struggling with the officers after he was handcuffed, and Ruiz applied the Taser to him. Walker was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where he died.

Metro last year instituted a policy prohibiting officers from using the Taser on individuals in handcuffs. After the incident, a Metro official stated that the officers may not have breached the policy because Walker may not have been arrested at the time of the incident.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said on Thursday that it is "outrageous" to consider that the policy prohibiting officers from using a Taser on a handcuffed suspect was not broken merely because Walker may not have been formally arrested when he was handcuffed.

The fact remains, he said, that the police used a Taser on a man who was handcuffed, and that man later died.

Police should only use Tasers to protect officers or the public as an alternative to deadly force, not as a compliance tool, he said.

Walker was the third man to die after being "tased" by Metro officers.

In February 2004, Metro police used a Taser on William Lomax, 26, several times. Lomax was handcuffed when police used the Taser on him. An inquest jury cleared the officer involved in that case of wrongdoing.

Metro also used a Taser on 47-year-old Keith Tucker. Tucker later died.

An inquest also cleared those two officers.