Taser Death: Nicholas Koscielniak (Lancaster, NY)

It happened again! This time we learn about the taser-related killing of 27-year old Nicholas Koscielniak in Lancaster (NY). Koscielniak was killed when police officers electrocuted him with at least 50,000 volts of electricity through a taser gun after they were unsuccessful in getting him under control. [SOURCE]

Police stated that they responded to a 911 call by a resident of the home for "a violent disturbance."

According to a statement released by Police Chief Gerald Gill Jr., officers arriving at the scene "were confronted by a 6-foot-4 inch, 275-pound ... male out of control and assaulting another adult male occupant of the home."

"An eventual use by the officers of an electronic control device did not control the man's violence," the statement said. "While the officers were in the process of restraining the man for purposes of ambulance transport to the hospital for a mental health evaluation, he continued to fight with them."

Koscielniak became unresponsive after being put on an ambulance gurney. He was proclaimed dead upon arrival at the local hospital.

An autopsy was performed later Tuesday morning by the Erie County Medical Examiner's Office. Details of the preliminary findings into the cause of Koscielniak's death were not immediately disclosed.

I will be interested to see how this taser-related death turns out. There is no mention of drug involvement in the early reporting of this case. Ordinarily the police are pretty quick to lay the ground work for a bogus 'excited delirium' defense in these taser-related killings. I guess that the cops in Lancaster didn't get the memo from Taser International.