Friday evening, 8/29/14 at about 8:40 pm Mohave County Sheriff Deputies in the Littlefield area of the Arizona Strip saw a motorcycle with no rear plate operating on the roadway. They started to make a traffic stop and the rider, a white male believed to be in his mid 40’s, abandoned his motorcycle and fled into the desert.
Deputies were able to find him hiding in brush and when they tried to detain him, he became combative with our Deputies. A Deputy used a Taser and an Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer, arriving to help our Deputies, also used his Taser. The male was eventually handcuffed and as he was being led back to the Deputies patrol cars, began to show signs of distress. Deputies began CPR when the suspect stopped breathing and immediately called for Paramedics. They continued CPR until Paramedics arrived on-scene and took over emergency medical care. Ultimately the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sheriff Jim McCabe has requested that the Department of Public Safety conduct an investigation of the incident. The motorcyclist has not yet been identified and the reason he fled is not known. The involved MCSO deputies will be placed on paid administrative leave pending further investigation as per our policy. Two deputies received minor injuries and were later treated and released at a nearby hospital. The Arizona Department of Public Safety will be the agency responsible for the investigation.
This incident happened and is tragic that a life was lost. However, he was tazed more than twice and while he was down on the ground in a fetal position. It has come to my attention that he was tazed four times. Your trying to tell me that four officers couldn’t handcuff this young man while he was on the ground (yes he was kicking and fighting) but he was tazed twice and on the ground in the fetal position. Why taze him two more times??? This was unnecessary use of force and he paid the ulitmate price with his life. Not right and not fair. I think additional training should be given to try to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. He was my good friend and I will miss him dearly.
There cops, therefore they can get away with murder with a slap on the wrist
This same type of incident happen a few years back….can’t remember exact dates or who the victims was ….but the MCSO was involved in the kind of deal…even hiding in a bush…how many time can the reason of an excuse be used???