Pubdate: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2005 Orlando Sentinel Contact: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325 Author: Henry Pierson Curtis Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) TASER USE DEFENDED IN LATEST DEATH Orange Deputies Think Drugs Played A Role When A Man Who Is Shocked Dies Steam rolled off a nearly naked man running barefoot into traffic early Thursday on East Colonial Drive. He didn't notice the pre-dawn chill or the orders of the first Orange County deputies responding to a 911 call about bizarre behavior at the Big Oaks Mobile Home Park. Within minutes, Jeffrey Earnhardt became the fifth county resident since 2002 to die after being shocked with a Taser. His is the latest of more than 70 Taser-related deaths nationwide that have caused a controversy over whether the stun guns contributed to some of those deaths. The four previous deaths in Orange County -- three involving deputies and one involving Orlando police -- were attributed to the suspects' drug abuse, unrelated to the Taser's electrical discharge. Homicide investigators said Thursday that they suspect autopsy results will show Earnhardt, 47, had deadly drug levels in his blood. "He had a history of methamphetamine abuse" and showed signs of an overdose, including profuse sweating, incredible strength, agitation and skin that was hot to the touch, said homicide Sgt. Paul Zambouros. "The deputies said they saw steam coming off him." Cheryl Johnson, the dead man's girlfriend, told investigators that Earnhardt showed up about 2 a.m. at her home overlooking East Colonial Drive and repeatedly said he thought he was dying. Jittery and unable to sit or stand for very long, Earnhardt refused her offers to take him to a hospital, deputies said. He had been acting as if he had been high on amphetamines since 10:30 a.m. the previous day, deputies said after interviewing Johnson and her mother. Methamphetamine is an illegal form of amphetamine, which has been increasingly abused in Florida and throughout the U.S. during the past 20 years. The first deputy reached the mobile-home park at 6:23 a.m., seven minutes after someone made an anonymous 911 call about a man screaming in the dark and running into traffic, sheriff's records show. Shortly after Deputy Frank Bonetti arrived, he called over the radio for immediate backup and followed with a second, more-urgent request for any deputy in the area, records show. Confronted by Earnhardt, who refused to get out of the roadway, Bonetti said the man rushed him and twice punched him before he fired his Taser. The weapon's 5-second jolt of 50,000 volts of electricity is designed to subdue any adult, but it didn't appear to have any effect, according to interviews. Bonetti, a retired New York City police officer who joined the Sheriff's Office in 2004, reloaded the Taser with a new cartridge and fired again, sending two tethered prongs at Earnhardt. By then, other deputies had arrived and forced Earnhardt to the ground and handcuffed him within 10 feet of the road next to a Lynx bus stop. At some point in the struggle, deputies realized he was not breathing and called Orange County Fire Rescue paramedics, Zambouros said. Earnhardt was pronounced dead at 7:23 a.m. in the emergency room of Florida Hospital East. "This is unfortunate, but in-custody deaths are always going to occasionally happen," said Capt. David Ogden, one of the sheriff's top authorities on Taser use. Early reports appear to indicate that Earnhardt's behavior was "a classic example of exhilarated delirium," a drug-induced state associated with other Taser-related deaths, Ogden said. "It appears that the training has kicked in," Ogden said, noting that deputies tried to prevent injury to Earnhardt by quickly subduing him rather than allowing a prolonged struggle with repeated Taser shocks. Supporters in law enforcement say Tasers have all but eliminated officers' on-the-job injuries from fighting with suspects. They also say they have saved hundreds of suspects' lives by giving officers a less-lethal alternative to firearms. But opponents, including Amnesty International, say the weapon can be abused by being discharged too many times or used on people in nonviolent situations. Court records show Earnhardt had been arrested more than 20 times since the mid-1980s on drinking and drug-related charges. Deputies said Johnson told them that two of her boyfriend's brothers died from drug-related causes in the 1990s. Earnhardt lived most recently with his father, Jay Earnhardt, in Winter Garden. The elder Earnhardt told deputies that he was a close relative of NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt, who died in 2001 in a crash during the Daytona 500. A spokesman for the Dale Earnhardt Inc., the seven-time Winston Cup champion's race team, could not be reached for comment. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman