Finally, some good news for the police and for tasers. A man in St.Louis died suddenly Thursday evening after being tasered by the police.
The county coroner performed an autopsy and determined although the man had been tasered, that was not the cause of death. The death is of course tragic but it is a relief to hear that no unusual or unjustified force was used and the taser was not the fatal blow.
By Kim Bell
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis - A naked man died after being hit twice by TASER barbs fired by St. Louis County police, but the medical examiner said Thursday that's not what killed him.
Samuel DeBoise, 29, was shocked twice by St. Louis County police officers in a confrontation Tuesday night outside his mother's home in the 6100 block of Lake Paddock Drive. He died later.
Police said he had been combative, but some of his relatives insisted he was not, and that they believe the Tasers were unnecessary and lethal.
After the Tasers were used, "He started fighting again," said Officer Tracy Panus, a police spokeswoman. She said officers then subdued him with their hands.
"He wasn't injured. He had no scratches, bruises, nothing like that," Panus added. "They got him loaded into an ambulance and several minutes after being in the ambulance, he went limp."
DeBoise was pronounced dead at 10:03 p.m.
It is important to note that tasers are a responsible non lethal self defense weapon when used properly whether used by law enforcement or private citizens. It is the over use or misuse of the non lethal self defense weapons that result in injuries or even death.