Fort Myers Police Investigating Death Of Latino Teen Subdued By Taser, Beaten by Cops
Thursday, January 6, 2005 at 06:59PM
TheSpook
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]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.