Posted on 12/14/2009 10:54:14 AM PST by StolarStorm
A man died after being shot with a Taser during a confrontation Sunday night with Mason police officers, according to police.
Police said Douglas Boucher, 39, of Mason died at a local hospital after he was shot by the Taser following a disturbance around 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13 at the Speedway gas station, 711 Reading Road.
Two Mason police officers stopped at the Speedway at the corner of Tylersville and Reading Road for a drink when a clerk asked them to talk to Boucher, who was causing some kind of trouble, according to a report.
The two officers approached Boucher and asked him to go outside. Police say the officers used a Taser after the confrontation got physical, and one of the officers sustained a head injury.
Boucher stopped breathing after he was stunned, police said.
He was taken to West Chester Medical Center where he died. The police officer with the head injury was treated and released from Bethesda North Hospital.
Mason police have been using Tasers since 2007.
Boucher’s ex-wife Sheryl Olszewski described him as a good father.
The couple was married in 2001 just before their 8-year-old daughter was born. Olszewski said their 2005 divorce was amicable and her daughter will miss her dad terribly.
“Our daughter was his light and inspiration and they enjoyed their visits tremendously,” she said. “Today is a sad day for her.”
Boucher was a bass player and a member of the local band “Hellcat Alley.”
“He was a very passionate person — passionate about his daughter, his music, and living life fully,” she said.
Doyle Burke, the chief investigator for the Warren County Coroner’s Office, said Butler County will perform the autopsy because he died there. He said they likely won’t find the Taser actually killed him, rather a heart condition or possibly drugs, combined with the Taser shock will likely be the cause of death.
“If it is a result of a Taser, it’ll be the first one in history,” he said.
Sounds like legal boilerplate to me...They know they’re getting sued.
Eh? You pull a gun, so the cops pull a taser? Yeah, right.
You would probably be better off having a Cop shoot at you he would probably miss anyway then you could take off running, never mind I forgot about the Choppers.
Only a li-i-i-ittle stretch in logic here to say that being shot doesn't count as killing someone if they have a heart condition or are possibly on drugs.
Yes, kiddies, there are good cops ... you just can't tell the difference by looking.
I disagree. I could see if the guy was armed. But tasers can kill, especially someone with a bad heart. They should have called backup & then tackled him. I’d like to see how bad the cops “head injury” was. They’ve been known to exaggerate. (sp?)
Correction: He was just trying to visit his mother who lived in CANADA...he was killed inside an airport corridor, after having just traveled from Poland. There is a large citizen’s movement to have the officers tried for murder. I hope they succeed. BTW, the whole episode was caught on amateur video.
Eh? You pull a gun, so the cops pull a taser? Yeah, right.
That's cuz the beeber weren't properly tuned.
Would it have been better if he died of a head injury after a cop hit him with a night stick?
Depends on how close he is and what he’s doing.
Usually, after jury-shopping, the civil case winds up being an "OJ Jury", hell-bent on making the mean ol' "PIGS" pay mega-millions to a ne'r-do-well-antagonistic, but we don't have enough info.
You can bet which side of the issue the State-Run-Media/Liberals will take, though.
of course this depends on the situation.
but just take this video. in my oppinion a taser would have
easy prevented that the situation did finally escalate to a point where they had to shoot him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV-M-YgE_eE
Murder by taser. A taser IS a lethal weapon -— a no brainer.
it’s patriotic to worship the police state!! s/
Your plan would allow the person to walk or run away. The two officers on site were tasked with taking him into custody. They were not obligated to call in a second, third, or fourth squad car for one malcontent.
All I hear here, is that the officers should have done to avoid this situation. What about the perp? I hear no suggestions concerning his actions or obligations.
His obligation was to be a good citizen. He was causing problems for the establishment. They asked for police intervention. So the police intervened.
Who escalated this situation to the point that it became a life and death issue? The police?
Sorry, this guy brought this on himself. He chose to be a problem from the moment he entered the establishment, up until the moment he was tased.
Whether the injury was serious or not, the officers DO NOT have to submit themselves to a physical situation. This guy evidently thought he was Mr. Tough guy, and he was going to show those officers a thing or two.
Well, he did didn’t he.
I don’t think that death should ever be the penalty for resisting arrest unless the perp is brandishing his own weapon with intent to harm.
As a Deputy Sheriff and military guy I have been tasered for the full length of time possible. I was shot with one electrode in my left shoulder and one in my right hip area. The farther apart the electrodes, usually the more the effect. I volunteered for the shot for training purposes. I have actually taken a taser three times if you count holding the electrodes too.
I not only stayed standing during the shot, but was able to draw my right shoulder muscle up to try to draw a gun while being shocked by the taser. I was screaming very loudly while getting shocked, but I did stay up.
I would rather get tasered than pepper sprayed any day of the week. Pepper is way worse in my experience.
Something else must have happened to these persons in addition to the taser.
Explain to us what you would have done if your were one of the officer and were asked by the establishment for help.
I’d like to know what you would have done different.
If you are stupid enough (or drugged up enough) to allow yourself to get into a fight with two cops, you are going to be subdued and arrested. In the old days they used a Billy Club or Black Jack, both of which always caused physical injuries, and occasionally fatal injuries. Today, they will use a Taser if they have the opportunity, which very seldom cause physical injuries.
Or would you take the pacifist approach and just allow a guy taking swings at a cop to walk away so that no one gets hurt?
Personally, as a taxpayer I have no problem with cops carrying a $10 Billy Club instead of a $1000 Taser, but I guess the stand-off capabilities of the Taser does save some $s on police worker's comp claims.
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