Man dead after being Tasered by police

October 18, 2008
Chicago Sun-Times

Homer Taylor, 39, Chicago, Illinois

A man who allegedly threatened police with a sharp-edged object is dead after being Tasered by officers Saturday afternoon on the West Side. The incident happened about 2 p.m. in the 5000 block of West Washington Boulevard as police officers on bike patrol viewed an erratic person drinking from an open bottle, according to police News Affairs.

As officers approached the person, he became combative with what appeared to be a sharp-edged object and threatened officers with it, police said. He then fled and a foot chase ensued. The person resisted arrest and was subdued with a Taser discharge, police said.

Police said the person appeared to have ingested an unknown amount of narcotics and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has been notified of a fatality at the address but did not have the person’s age, gender or identity Saturday evening.

Emergency crews were initially called to assist police and they took a 20-year-old man to Loretto Hospital in critical condition, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Joe Roccasalva said.

Investigators from the Independent Police Review Authority were sent to the scene, according to IPRA spokesman Mark Payne. “We look at Taser incidents just as we look at any police-involved shooting,” Payne said. The incident remains under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority.