Man dies in custody after Taser incident involving Ontario police
Last Updated: Monday, June 23, 2008 | 11:48 PM ET
CBC News
An Ontario man died Monday after a Taser incident involving Ontario Provincial Police, the force said in a media release.
The Special Investigations Unit, a civilian agency that investigates incidents involving police in which people are hurt or killed, is now investigating.
The incident happened mid-morning in Norfolk County, about 130 km southwest of Toronto.
Police said they were responding "to a report of an unwanted male person causing a disturbance," and said the man was "combative."
In describing the incident, police said they "deployed a conducted energy weapon." The man was taken into custody at the OPP station in Simcoe, Ont.
"Upon arrival at the detachment, the male collapsed," police said. "Officers administered first aid until the ambulance arrived."
The 36-year-old man — whose name has not yet been released — was taken to Norfolk General Hospital where he died.
Tasers are hand-held weapons that deliver a jolt of electricity through a pair of wires propelled by compressed air from up to 10.6 metres away.
The jolt stuns the target by causing an uncontrollable contraction of the muscle tissue. The target is immobilized and falls to the ground.
Prior to Monday's incident, at least 20 people in Canada were known to have died after being struck with a Taser.
The number of incidents involving RCMP stun guns has more than doubled since 2005, according to records obtained by CBC News in March.
Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died last October after he was repeatedly zapped with an RCMP Taser and subdued by officers at Vancouver International Airport.
