Fort Myers Police Investigating Death Of Latino Teen Subdued By Taser, Beaten by Cops

A teenager died after he was zapped with a Taser gun and doused with a substance similar to pepper spray during a fight with Collier County sheriff's deputies, officials said. Christopher Hernandez, 19, of Fort Myers, was the third suspect to die in Florida this month after being subdued with a Taser gun. Hernandez died Tuesday, several hours after officials say he attacked deputies, kicking and ripping their uniforms. He ignored orders to stop. Hernandez, who had no local criminal record, was taken for treatment at Naples Community Hospital for a cut above his eye, but Collier County sheriff's spokesman Dennis Huff said there had been no indication that Hernandez' wounds were life-threatening. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. But Hernandez's relatives say he was badly beaten. They said that when they saw him at the emergency room his head was swollen, his eyes were "blood red" and his arms and face had road rash. Blood from somewhere on his head stained the hospital pillow. "He was beaten unnecessarily," said his uncle, Xavier Hernandez. Hernandez's father, Jose Hernandez, said he rushed to the hospital and talked to his son about what happened, but he wouldn't say what his son said. His son was then taken to the intensive care unit and died about an hour later. Police used CapStun, similar to pepper spray, and a Taser stun gun, which inflicts a shock, in an attempt to subdue him, but several minutes passed before he was handcuffed, they said. [more] and [more] and [more]