Taser Autopsy: Delano Smith (Elkhart, IN)

Elkhart Police Department Cpl. Norm Friend, Officer Bruce Anglemyer, Sgt. James Buchmann, and Officer Michael Price shot 22-year old Delano Smith three times with a taser back in January. The Elkhart, Indiana man died while in their police custody and police tasers contributed to the death.

That was the conclusion of an investigation conducted by the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office that found no wrongdoing on the part of police officers. [SOURCE]

Elkhart City Police were called to Smith’s apartment on January 6th of this year by neighbors who heard screaming and other loud noises.

Once there, officers observed some very bizarre behavior. Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill said that Smith had a large wound on his arm and that Smith was biting the wound with his teeth. The investigation further alleges that Smith was dousing his head in a kitchen sink full of water and what appeared to be blood.

Finally, some appliances near the sink appeared to be damaged with exposed electrical wiring. Smith wrapped his mouth around the exposed wires, despite the officer’s requests to stop.

“While it’s very unfortunate that this apparently troubled young man is dead, and while the actions of the officers may have inadvertently contributed to his death,” said Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill, “The actions taken by police officers to subdue Mr. Smith were reasonable, appropriate, and necessary to prevent his further harm."

An autopsy concluded that the confrontation with police and the restraint that officers used were contributing factors in Smith’s death.

“This was certainly a circumstance that we wanted to take a look at because we have an individual who died while in police custody and following a confrontation with police where the police had engaged in the use of force, albeit one that is clearly intended to be non-lethal,” said Prosecutor Hill.

Villagers, it appears that this was a mentally-ill man who needed help. He didn't need to be electrocuted by invading police officers. The man was not an immediate threat to the police officers. He needed to be hospitalized ... not killed. The police officers appear to have been much too quick to pull their taser guns. Weren't other options available to them?

Again we see that the 'powers that be' are not interested in holding the police accountable for their actions. Unintentionial killings usually result in a manslaughter charge ... however, the usual rules don't apply in Elkhart. The four taser-killing cops go free and Delano Smith's life is deemed irrelevant.

Taser Death: Delano Smith (Elkhart, IN)

A young 21-year old man was making loud noises, screaming and trashing his apartment yesterday morning in Elkhart, Indiana. His apartment had broken windows, mirrors, furniture and holes in the walls. It was obvious that the young man was upset about something.

Instead of offering the young man help ... unidentified Elkhart police officers decided to fire 50,000 volts of electricity from their taser guns SEVERAL TIMES.

Now, 21-year old Delano Smith will never be able to tell us what upset him so much. He's dead.

This is the 60th taser-related death in America over the past year. It appears that the Elkhart police officers weren't aware of the recent federal court ruling that placed limits on the use of taser guns.

Police say they tried to calm Smith down so medics could treat his wounds, but he refused and even threw things at the officers. Officers say they were forced to taser Smith several times before he stopped resisting. Smith was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

An investigation is underway and an autopsy will be performed to determine what caused his death. Police say, right now, they aren’t looking for any suspects in the case. No shyt Sherlock ... the suspects are the ones wearing the blue uniforms and cooling off their taser weapons.

I wonder when the frequency of these taser deaths will begin to decline? We're still having them at a weekly rate. What say u?