Chicago releases video of police using Taser on man in cell who later died

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Chicago releases video of police using Taser on man in cell who later died

December 8th, 2015

Awake Goy

The mayor said that either the actions of the officers involved or the policies of the department were at fault — and that he hadn’t received a good enough answer on either point from the former leadership of the Independent Police Review Authority.

“As a result I do not consider this case to be closed or the investigation into what happened that night to be over,” Emanuel said. The city on Monday also released large amounts of other information related to the case, including police reports and 911 calls.

The medical examiner at the time found that Coleman, 38, died from a severe reaction to the administration at the hospital of haloperidol, an antipsychotic drug. But the examiner’s report also detailed dozens of bruises and abrasions all over Coleman’s body as well as a fractured rib.

A police report said Coleman had been taken into custody on December 12, 2012, on suspicion of assaulting his 69-year-old mother and he also faced felony charges for attacking and spitting on the responding police officers.

Father: Police took ‘no helpful action’

The Taser incident in the police cell took place after Coleman physically resisted efforts to transport him to a court building, according to the report. Coleman clashed violently with police officers at the hospital where he was taken for treatment, trying to seize an officer’s Taser, it said.

After hospital staff administered a sedative, Coleman calmed down but then began to experience “physical problems,” the report said.

“Independent of the facts that led to his arrest or the actions at the hospital, we are held to a higher standard and we must strive to live up to it every day,” Chicago Interim Police Superintendent John Escalante said in a statement Monday. “While the independent investigation is ongoing we will be doing our own review of our policies and practices surrounding the response to mental health crises.”