Combination of factors blamed for Tasered man's death

TAMPA - A man who was Tasered by deputies three times died due to "delirium with agitation due to schizoaffective disorder," Hillsborough Associate Medical Examiner Leszek Chrostowski said this morning.

Roney Wilson, 46, died Sept. 11 after his family called on deputies to help them. Wilson had become upset, climbed inside his mother's Nissan Frontier, smashed out the windshield with his fist and refused to budge.

Chrostowski said he can't say whether the use of the Taser itself contributed to Wilson's death. But he did determine that one contributing cause was "physical stress" and he called the manner of death "homicide," citing Wilson's "physical resistence to attempted restraint by police."

Wilson, Chrostowski said, was already in state of delirium when deputies arrived. He had a small amount of alcohol in his blood, as well as prescription antidepressants cyclobenzaprine, doxapine and mirtazapine. Chrostowski said one of those three medications was found in a slightly higher amount than would be expected in a clinical dose.

"All of these medications can cause agitation themselves," he said. "If you put stress of apprehension on top of this, this . . . causes physiological collapse and people die. There's nothing completely unusual about that."

Chrostowski explained that the word homicide when used by the medical examiner does nothing to suggest intent to kill, but does indicate that a contributing factor in his death was "the hands of others."

"It doesn't matter how much it is contributory - 1 percent, 50 percent or 90 percent," Chrostowski said. He said there was a lot of discussion at his office about his decision to call the manner of death a homicide. For example, even in the case in which a person dies by lethal injection under order of law, a medical examiner refers to the manner of death as homicide.

"I cannot change how the definition works only because it's a police officer," he said. "I think that for the sake of consistency, we have to call it a homicide. It doesn't mean they intended to kill."

Dick Bailey, public information officer for the medical examiner, said it would be a while before the actual report is made public. For now, Chrostowski's findings will be sent to the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office for review. Bailey said that's a matter of course any time the manner of death is homicide.

Hillsborough Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said a preliminary investigation into the use of force found no fault with the deputies' actions. Deputies Mary Angelo, Jessica Guthrie and Dustin Hartline returned to work shortly after the incident, she said. (Angelo, who used the Taser, is married to St. Petersburg Times researcher John Martin.)

The Sheriff's Office has not seen the report, but will review it with the State Attorney's Office when it becomes available, Carter said.

Click on these links to read more about Wilson's death and Taser International's interest in medical examiner findings.

Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer

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Comments

[Gill]

The man wouldn't cooperate with authorities. The police did what they had to do, the end result is just unfortunate. The medical examiner even said physical stress was one of the reasons of his death, which he brought upon himself. He also took a little more prescription anti-depressant than he should have.

[mrknowitall]

Tazer happy Sheriffs. Their instant remedy to resolving a situation. I agree sometimes there is no recourse but 99.5 times thats first thing they grab.

[isis]

This man was unarmed, the keys weren't even in the car, there was no where for him to go the family wanted help and they didn't get it...as usual this will be no fault of the sheriffs office and will be swept under the rug with the help of the ME and no punishment will be given to the deputies involved in this terrible death...but what else would anyone expect...for a seriff officer to actually get repremended for something wrong HAHAHAHA they don't!!! They are the only ones who can drive drunk, speed, and anything else they want to without having to deal with the consequences

[Daniel]

The majority of British police do not carry firearms, nor tazers. The baton is their standard issue weapon for restraint.

Tazers may not always be, but occasionally become lethal, and they should be out-lawed.

[Me]

Dear idiots: isis, daniel,mrknowitall, since you are so awesome, how about leaving your phone number with your local law enforcement agencies. Then, when someone gets out of hand, they can call you big, bad fighters and YOU can subdue them. Yeah, I didn't think you yellow-bellies would be the point man. You hide behind your little keyboard, and dial 911 the Milli-second trouble sniffs at your door. And by the way, Daniel, Bristish police don't have to deal with idiots as American police do. The Taser is a tool they must use in order to subdue some of the people they deal with. Of course, none of you would know because you're hiding under your beds.

[Me]

Why don't you whiners shut up. Don't see you out there protecting any of us. Get out from under your couch - its safe now.

[Stubby]

me... you are obviously a police man and an idiot. Whateverhappened to hand to hand as previuos officers were taught. Now its kill Kill Kill first ask questions later.