Civil Rights
Police Taser Naked New York City Man, Who Falls and Dies
Posted Sep 25, 2008, 05:06 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Add another individual to the death toll related to Taser use: Several New York police officers are facing potential disciplinary action after reportedly stunning a naked and incoherent man who was standing on a fire escape in Brooklyn wielding only an 8-foot fluorescent light tube.
The man, 35-year-old Iman Morales, fell to his death after apparently being Tasered, reports the New York Post.
"A New York Police Department lieutenant was stripped of his gun and badge, and the officer who used the stun gun on the man was placed on administrative duty Thursday," the newspaper reports, citing officials. The lieutenant reportedly ordered the Taser stun gun use, and the officer complied with that order.
"He just fell face first," witness Sean Brown tells the Post. "People were screaming and yelling. It was wrong."
An amateur video of the incident is posted on the newspaper's website.
An Associated Press article says police had called for an inflatable bag to break Morales' fall, but it hadn't yet arrived when he was Tasered. Morales apparently may have died of head trauma suffered in the fall.
"The man's death renewed focus on the use of stun guns by the NYPD," the news agency writes. "Thousands of city police sergeants began carrying Tasers on their belts this year after the department expanded use of the weapons. The pistol-shaped weapons fire barbs up to 35 feet and deliver 50,000-volt shocks to immobilize people."
Updated at 12:59 p.m. Oct. 2 to include Morales' correct age.
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Comments
Posted by Ellen Barshevsky - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 1 hour ago
I summered after my 2nd year in NY City, and I know that it can be tough for the police.
We need to give the police the benefit of the doubt, and NOT rush to judgement, because there are ALOT of crazies in NY City who miight be in a hospital in other places. In NY City, they are out on the streets, and in the subways.
When I took a train out to the beach one Saturday, I remember a man following me all the way through 2 transfers or 3. It was creepy and I am glad I was not alone.
But not everybody traveles with somebody all of the time so when they are alone, they are scared in the subway trains. Maybe the Police were worried about saftey of others. They must consider this before coming down on them all the time.
I know NY City is not what it used to be, but it should improve, now that 9/11 is behind us.
Posted by brad - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 22 hours, 14 minutes ago
A guy hopped up on drugs gets tasered and dies? How is this a problem.
Better that guy die than have the cop get hurt dealing with the trash.
Posted by brad - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 22 hours, 12 minutes ago
then again, after RTFA, yeah, the cops were wrong.
Posted by How Shocking - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes ago
I don’t see why the man, who apparently was being harmlessly annoying, really needed to be TASED.
The problem with tasers is that most police departments now consider them to be a vry default sort of use-of-force that ends up being widely overused.
TASERs do help cops feel safer - but then again, so would shooting everybody in the face.