INDIANAPOLIS–An Indianapolis police officer had to activate a taser when responding to a report of a man “having a psychosis.” That man later died at a hospital.
They were called about an incident that happened in the 3700 block of Marrison Place at about 3:20 am Monday. That is off North Sherman Drive south of 46th Street on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
The man’s father told the police about the psychosis and requested an ambulance. The officers spoke to the man to try and get him ready to get into the ambulance. The man was “bleeding from the mouth.”
“The man moved to areas of the home where officers lost sight of him several times. After more than 10 minutes of officers negotiating and using de-escalation tactics, the man moved quickly toward an officer. The officer deployed his electronic control device, more commonly known as a taser, striking the man in the chest with at least one of the two prongs. After the taser trigger is pulled, it is automatically activated for five seconds. The officer activated the taser twice. The man continued to resist after the deployment of the taser,” said IMPD in a news release.
The man was 6’2 and 280 pounds.
“Due to the man’s size, officers placed him in two pairs of linked handcuffs, which typically provides more comfort to larger individuals,” said the news release.
Once the man was detained, medics, who had been waiting outside for the scene to be safe to enter, were told to come inside the home. At that point, medics asked the man to roll over and he did not respond. After that, they took the handcuffs off the man and administered CPR.
The man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after he got there.
Multiple officers were wearing body-worn cameras, which were activated during the incident. The officers who were directly involved have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol during this type of investigation.
“The civilian-majority Use of Force Review Board will conduct a review of the officers’ use of force. This occurs after the conclusion of the criminal and administrative investigations are complete,” said the news release.
