A Florida man died after he tried to swallow a baggie with marijuana and was then hit with a taser by police for what they believe was resisting arrest. Andrew Grande, 23, it seen on the video below struggling to breathe as officers try to help him and determine whether he is having an overdose.
During the incident, Grande breaks one hand free from the officers and is then hit with the taser. He then pulled the taser darts out as he struggled to breathe.
Police were responding to a call of a physical disturbance around 2 am on Friday. A female friend of Grande said that he pushed her several times.
One of the videos below starts with an officer shouting, “Spit it out.” Grande is one the ground as three deputies hold him down. On one tape, you can hear a deputy telling the dispatcher that Grande swallowed something.
After being tasered, Goode can be heard saying “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” The officers tried to help him with the Heimlich maneuver and one shouts “Let us help you, man. Hang in there.”
He couldn’t. The hospital pulled a bag of pot from his throat with foreceps.
This is a very disturbing video. It appears that the taser aggravated the situation since he begins to choke after being shot. The taser likely caused him to suck the bag down his throat further:
This type of fatality is not uncommon as in this recent Louisiana case of a man choking to death after trying to swallow drugs:
For the full story, click here.
Idiot shouldn’t have swallowed a bag of pot.
I believe many in law enforcement have no business being in that field because they are bullies and get off pushing people around. The taser use almost always is un-necessary. It certainly was in this case and the cops should be tried for manslaughter.
Federal court sets limits on taser use.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/81381.html
Legalize marijuana!
Outlaw tasers!
Make cops behave rationally. Three cops certainly should be able to arrest 1 unarmed man without killing him.
In addition to dash cams and other stationary cameras, every cop that interacts with the public should have a helmet cam with sound that records every incident. ALL POLICE VIDEOS SHOULD BE PUBLIC PROPERTY AND THE PUBLIC SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO THEM ONLINE.
Cops are far too aggressive and use excessive force when it is absolutely unnecessary far too often.
Violence is often incited by the police simply because they scream and act aggressive from the very beginning of encounters with the public.
WE ARE FAR PAST THE POINT WHERE AN INDEPENDENT PANEL OF CITIZENS SHOULD REVIEW POLICE INCIDENTS INSTEAD OF POLICE POLICING THEMSELVES!!!!!
THE INGREDIENTS IN MARIJUANA HAVE NEVER KILLED ANYONE, OF ANY AGE, IN ALL OF RECORDED HISTORY, ANYWHERE ON PLANET EARTH! MARIJUANA PROHIBITION HAS KILLED MANY AND RUINED THE LIVES OF FAR MORE PEOPLE THAN LEGALIZING IT EVER COULD.
THERE SIMPLY IS NO EXCUSE FOR UNARMED PEOPLE BEING ARRESTED FOR MARIJUANA TO END UP DEAD.
If you view the second video, the officer clearly contributed to the choking death of the subject. Furthermore, the officer had the man’s hand behind his back and he could have easily handcuffed him then. Even if the guy swallowed the drugs, toxicological tests of his blood taken at the station while he was very much alive would have most likely revealed what they were. If they were in a baggie or plastic, a stool sample would have provided the evidence needed. The man–druggie or not–needlessly died and the officer was to blame.
Two deaths caused by—or at least exacerbated by—law enforcement officers. The first incident was especially troubling to me and those images of a man knowing that he was going to die are hard to erase from my memory. If I had been an officer in either case, I would have resigned my commission; however, that requires a healthy conscience.
I also was wondering about the taser exacerbating this situation where the subject has a bag of pot in his mouth. The taser-induced gasp reflex is likely to pull it down the wrong way toward the lungs where it’ll get hung up and beyond reach.
Maybe Taser International should add yet another warning to their legal disclaimers…
Honestly, cops are nuts. This is insane. Kill a guy for this? Get out. Which is more evil? Killing a guy for using pot or using pot?
When cops do this sort of thing, that community should fire the whole department. Get rid of the bums, they are as Lew Rockwell’s website refers to them useless “tax-feeders”.
You are safer with a drug dealer than with a cop, because you can shoot the drug dealer.
Man up boys. You need to be responsible for your own safety. Teach your daughters to handle weapons carefully. Be men. You don’t need government bullies, thugs, and murderers to protect you. Teach your daughters to defend themselves. Arm your wives, teach them courage.
Fire your cop department when they starting killing people for bumping into them. Who gets to murder someone for bumping into them? Bumping into a cop is now a pretext for the mock hysterical response by a cop so he can arrest you for “resisting”. It is a charge that should OUTLAWED until further notice.
Cops are such sissies.
This must of had been some really good shit to die for.
FFLEO,
As you well know, we may disagree on the specifics of your premise, but I can find nothing wrong with your conclusion. This was simply handled poorly.
First, I am adamantly opposed to the legalization of marijuana *except* for prescribed medicinal use which is long overdue. However, the use of a Taser in this instance was outrageous. It was evident that Mr. Grande was in a state of physical distress during the handcuffing phase, early on. He struggled because he most likely could not breathe. The Taser to the chest could have further hindered the swallowing reflex (parasympathetic esophageal peristalsis) as opposed to causing any “sucking” that is more of a sympathetic ‘fight or flight’ reflex/response.
Of course, gasping for breath would likely have caused that “sucking” of the bag lodging further down the esophagus blocking closed the epiglottis and/or entrance directly within the windpipe trachea, causing the air blockage. Anyone who has choked on anything or had something “go down the wrong pipe” knows the experience, and if protracted enough—the sheer *panic* that ensues. Mr. Grande was in a state of panic not resisting arrest and the officers were inexcusably unaware of this because they were focused on the arrest phase at all costs.
I was out of LE work before Taser use became common; however, something is wrong when 3 officers cannot physically restrain 1 suspect. Tasers must never be employed in the use of force continuum until just before an officer would draw and fire his service weapon. It must be a weapon of last resort, i.e., before the use of deadly force—in fact, Tasers are demonstrating time and again that they should be considered a highly *probable* deadly force on a level just below the almost *certain* death from the use of a firearm/weapon.
Although I am—without variance—opposed to *any* recreational illegal drug use—I do not consume alcohol, either—another human being must never die as in the manner that Mr. Grande did. The 3 or more officers clearly contributed to Mr. Grande’s death. The first thought of an officer must be the protection and preservation of human life through quick considerations for the level of threat the subject poses to other humans; clearly, Mr. Grande was not a threat to others, in this instance, and the Taser use was not appropriate.
There has to be a legal argument against tasers. This is ridiculous.
Back when I was in the Boy Scouts, when I first picked up a rifle at the age of ten, I was taught that you should never point the barrel at anything you’re not prepared to destroy. That is rule number one with any weapon.
Tasers, on the other hand, evidenced by all the insane stories regarding their abuse, delude its user into believing they can ignore rule number one of weapons and fire it whenever they want.
IOW, lack of respect for the weapon entails lack of respect for the target and thus the increased abuse of tasers.
I think the taser requires the same if not more regulation than handguns.
Doesn’t look like the cops did anything wrong to me.
I guess this would not even be in the running with Cheech and Chongs “Up In Smoke.”
This is a reminder that one should not be ingesting foreign substances into one mouth as death could result, especially if you are tased. Which could result in life altering unintended consequences…
I suppose the Officers are giving new meaning to School of Hard Tase….