Man dies after police deploy taser, get ‘hands on’ during arrest following incident in South Australia
A man in South Australia died after police officers “intervened” by firing a stun gun after police “threatened” him with a metal pole.
Police said a 44-year-old man damaged a property in Clare, about 140 kilometers from Adelaide, with a metal pole around 12.30pm on Sunday.
The man threatened two police officers when they attended the property in Opie Street, using a stun gun when the officers were unable to disarm the man.
Speaking to media on Sunday afternoon, South Australian Police Deputy Commissioner David O’Donovan said the taser was deployed but was “ineffective”.
“I was informed that he used the metal pole to threaten the police,” he said.
“The Taser was activated but was ineffective.
“Police then became involved in arresting the male and during the arrest procedure the man became unresponsive and police immediately took action to administer first aid and continued until medical aid arrived at the scene.”
He could not explain what he meant by the stun gun being “ineffective” but told reporters that police should have acted “immediately” when arresting him after using the stun gun.
“Police then contacted the offender and he apparently became unresponsive during the arrest,” he said.
“It’s still very early in the investigation and because of the seriousness of the incident that occurred here, and certainly the South Australian police are taking this incident very seriously… there are a lot of details that are not yet clear.”
The 44-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated by Major Crimes and Ethical and Professional Standards detectives.
