400-Pound Man Dies After Police Struggle

AP ^ | 12/01/2003 | AP

[TomServo]

CINCINNATI (AP) - A 41-year-old man who struggled with police officers in a restaurant parking lot died shortly after they used chemical spray and nightsticks to subdue him Sunday morning, police officials said.

The officers, who repeatedly used nightsticks on Nathaniel Jones, properly used force in trying to control him, police Lt. Col. Richard Janke said. Jones died at University Hospital.

Two officers responding to a call of a man acting strange got into a struggle with Jones after he took a swing at one of them, police said. It took six officers to get the 400-pound man to the ground and handcuffed, officials said.

After he had been restrained, officers realized something was wrong and called firefighters for help, Lt. Kurt Byrd said.

The two officers who first responded received cuts and scrapes.

"Those two officers were thrown around like rag dolls," said Roger Webster, president of the police union.

The coroner's office will determine the cause of death. The six officers have been placed on administrative leave while the death is investigated, based on department policy.

[TomServo]

No winter in Cincinnati this year. Any bets as to when the arsons start?

[Willie Green]

I saw the newsclip on the tube.
BIG dude was certainly fighting back and resisting.
But I'm still unaware of what the original infraction was that started all this.
Simply "acting strange" isn't a very good explanation.

[Restorer]

These events can be easily avoided. Technology has been around for a long time that allows the police to just use a net to immobilize an attacker. Let him struggle against the strands.

The problem is the the NAACP and ACLU lobbied violently against the use of nets because they "violate the dignity" of the suspect. Leaving the cops little alternative but to beat the suspect into submission.

[End Times Sentinel]

Hmmmm....  I'd always been led to believe that resisting arrest was recommended behavior.  Who'd a thunk it would work out like that for the fella?

Owl_Eagle

" WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH"

[GluteusMax]

Simply "acting strange" isn't a very good explanation.

Agreed. The militarized mindset of most police departments is a disturbing trend. They will kill you if you don't comply with their demands. It used to be that the police would diffuse a situation and then arrest someone. Now they simply nightstick someone into submission or empty their clips into them.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[r9etb]

More info on this thread.

Sounds like he went after the cops, and they fought him for quite a while.

Apparently they pepper-sprayed him, and I'm guessing he had a bad reaction and ended up suffocating.

[r9etb]

Now they simply nightstick someone into submission or empty their clips into them.

Read the article (see link, above). Your JBT comment is (as are most such comments) uninformed.

[Hodar]

Two officers responding to a call of a man acting strange got into a struggle with Jones after he took a swing at one of them, police said. It took six officers to get the 400-pound man to the ground and handcuffed, officials said. ..... The coroner's office will determine the cause of death.

Ok, I'll go out on a limb here. A 400lb man may not have been the picture of health and athletic abilities. He assaults an officer, and has a heart attack while he continues to fight. Simply put, he's so fat that the sudden, intense physical activity resulting from his actions, kills him. But, let's blame the cops. Aren't they hired and paid to be assualted, beaten and shot at by every jerk with an attitude? < /sarcasm off>

[TomServo]

Thanks for the added link. Much more info than this one...

[GluteusMax]

Now they simply nightstick someone into submission or empty their clips into them.
Read the article (see link, above). Your JBT comment is (as are most such comments) uninformed.

Um..okay. What I said was the trend toward a military mindset among police is disturbing. That is a fact. The days of the image of the officer in blue who serves and protects is rapidly fading. The polite man at your car window has all but disappeared. Now rather than requesting your compliance they bark it as a command. Rather than a blue dress shirt, now it's "hut-hut" military gear. Why do suburban police departments need darth vader body armor and sniper units?

This 400 pound guy probably died because he was a fat slob, triggered by extreme stress. I'm not defending his actions. What I am questioning is a mindset that has emerged in America.

Before you go on the attack with a knee-jerk response, think about whether or not you think the police, in your experience, are more military minded now than when you were a kid.

[TSgt]

"No winter in Cincinnati this year. Any bets as to when the arsons start?"

Ahhhhhhh, you know my city well.

Thuggary rules from City Counsel to the streets.

My fondest memories of Sinsinnasty are when its in my rear view window at 5:00 p.m. after I leave work.

[blackdog]

I have an original printing of the banned "Cookbook" published in the 70's. There is an entire chapter in it dedicated to the arrest process. It is very specific on what to do, discuss, behave like, what to expect, and most importantly......to physically and emotionally do nothing except look scared. The chapter describes how the psychological aspect of how law enforcement works in it's own mind and processes.

Never ever react toward police. If you are black and the officer/s are black, be especially meek and mute.

[Hank Rearden]

Five-foot-six and 400 lbs? He must have been spherical.

[r9etb]

Before you go on the attack with a knee-jerk response, think about whether or not you think the police, in your experience, are more military minded now than when you were a kid.

Not among the cops I know personally. I will grant that there is a tendency to militarize some police responses, and that it's not necessarily a good thing.

Be that as it may, my comment to you was spurred by your immediate leap to JBT accusations when you clearly were not aware of the facts of this particular incident.

If you'd bothered to research a bit, you'd have found that there were no "hut-huts," body armor, or sniper units involved here -- nor did they "empty a clip into him." (Your words.)

Instead, we find ourselves looking at a bunch of normal cops who did what they could to subdue this guy using non-lethal means.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Arrested for having a large amount of crack?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Simply "acting strange" isn't a very good explanation.

He took a swing at an officer. That's usually good enough.

[looscnnn]

"Acting strange" is the reason the cops were called, not the reason to arrest. "Acting strange" could be due to casing cars for theft, staking out a business for robbery, stalking a person, etc.

If the guy had not taken a swing at the cop, they probably would have checked him out and if clean, would have told him to leave the area. That did not happen.

[SquirrelKing]

"You must go! You been here foh hour! No moh food!"

[Made In The USA]

We can count on there being a riot some time soon.

It will never enter the minds of the rioters that Mr. 400 pounds was causing a disturbance and started a fight with the police. Soon the family of the dead man will be on TV to tell us what a great man he was, how he was turning his life around, he was on medication- oh yeah, and that they're suing.