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.
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