Death of obese man (who assaulted police) ruled "homicide"

Fox News | 12/3/03 | Fox News

[zlala]

The Coroner just read a statement saying the direct cause of his death was the struggle with the police; or that them trying to subdue him and the struggle cause his death. Contributing factors included the drugs and his weight and heart condition.

[mewzilla]

Was he over-exerting himself when he had had the problem before? If so, then the guy should've known better than to fight with the cops. And if he was too stoned to know better, that's not the cops' fault.

[luvbach1]

Absent the struggle it is unlikely he would have been dead upon arrival at the hospital. By the same token, absent his obesity, the PCP, and other drugs he probably would have survived the struggle and beating.

[retrokitten]

ABC has it's own agenda.....

That's for sure.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

He was also on PCP (angel dust)and cocaine. And most dangerous of all White Castle Burgers.

Good Lord. Why would anybody try to combine angel dust and cocaine with White Castle Burgers?

He wouldn't have lasted long in any case.

[keithtoo]

"It's not the fall that kills you.....it's the sudden stop"

"It's not the nightsticks that kill you....it's what happens when you are egregiously overweight and do speed and PCP and resist arrest and fight with cops and......that kills you"

[MEG33]

I know the beating looks bad,they were hitting his arm to get it behind him and cuffed with end of stick jabs,I saw later.If he was on speed he had the strength of many and he was huge.It'll be the reason for people to get face time on TV and froth at the mouth,for sure.

[Rebelbase]

It did have a pun quality, kind of.........

[lepton]

And if he was too stoned to know better, that's not the cops' fault.

Castigating the police for the guys level of exertion is pretty tenuous...but that level is what the report cites as the cause of death.

Asking the police to be more hesitant to shoot is one thing. Asking them to consider themselves at fault because a guy on drugs flips out and his body can't handle it is just silly.

[luvbach1]

"Contributing conditions were drugs, his weight and heart condition...."

Police can not adjust the amount of force needed to subdue a suspect based on extraneous factors of which they were unaware, save his obesity. A violent suspect is a violent suspect to be dealt with by prescribed methods.

[Skip Ripley]

It's too cold to riot. Then again, there's lots of Christmas goodies in the stores and lootin' sure beats payin'

I guess it's a toss-up

[lepton]

LOL

[WackyKat]

Then how can the coroner attribute the guy's last one to the cops? Cardiology has improved apparently.

Given that his heart stopped during the struggle, that's kind of a reasonable conclusion. isn't it?

Look, as someone who frequently critices police abuse on this forum, I support the police in this case because their actions appear to have been justified and they used the appropriate amount of force under the circumstances. In fact, I commend their restraint

But it is obvious that the struggle was a major factor in the death, along with his drug use and obesity. That doesn't mean the police were guilty of a crime or even at fault.

[xzins]

Obviously, you don't live around here.

Those are rioting words.

[Hildy]

I saw this on TV last night. Doesn't it seem reasonable that in this day and age police have another weapon besides a club to subdue someone? How about some kind of dart gun like they use with animals that will put them out. I don't know, this just seemed unnecessary.

[luvbach1]

"They call it MURDER [homocide]of the man in Cini.."

Typical of the feeble and sloppy word usage of so many talking heads.

[mewzilla]

His heart stopped because of the irregular heartbeat. But what brought on the irreg heartbeat? What brought it on previously? Did the guy know this? And if he did, and it was the struggle, why should the cops take the rap? It's not like the perp had the info tattooed on his forhead.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Yeah, right.

And just how is a heart attack (suffered while the dead person was on drugs and viviously screaming and assaulting another person) a "deliberate" death?

[xzins]

See #44 & 55

[luvbach1]

Homicide: Homo (man) cidere (to kill). Literally, "killed by man".

Suicide: Sui (self) cidere (to kill). Literally, "killed by self".

Murder: Killing that is not in self defense and directly causes death, which in this case could not apply since there were other contributing factors.