Elkhart Police Department Cpl. Norm Friend, Officer Bruce Anglemyer, Sgt. James Buchmann, and Officer Michael Price shot 22-year old Delano Smith three times with a taser back in January. The Elkhart, Indiana man died while in their police custody and police tasers contributed to the death.
That was the conclusion of an investigation conducted by the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office that found no wrongdoing on the part of police officers. [SOURCE]
Elkhart City Police were called to Smith’s apartment on January 6th of this year by neighbors who heard screaming and other loud noises.
Once there, officers observed some very bizarre behavior. Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill said that Smith had a large wound on his arm and that Smith was biting the wound with his teeth. The investigation further alleges that Smith was dousing his head in a kitchen sink full of water and what appeared to be blood.
Finally, some appliances near the sink appeared to be damaged with exposed electrical wiring. Smith wrapped his mouth around the exposed wires, despite the officer’s requests to stop.
“While it’s very unfortunate that this apparently troubled young man is dead, and while the actions of the officers may have inadvertently contributed to his death,” said Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill, “The actions taken by police officers to subdue Mr. Smith were reasonable, appropriate, and necessary to prevent his further harm."An autopsy concluded that the confrontation with police and the restraint that officers used were contributing factors in Smith’s death.
“This was certainly a circumstance that we wanted to take a look at because we have an individual who died while in police custody and following a confrontation with police where the police had engaged in the use of force, albeit one that is clearly intended to be non-lethal,” said Prosecutor Hill.
Villagers, it appears that this was a mentally-ill man who needed help. He didn't need to be electrocuted by invading police officers. The man was not an immediate threat to the police officers. He needed to be hospitalized ... not killed. The police officers appear to have been much too quick to pull their taser guns. Weren't other options available to them?Again we see that the 'powers that be' are not interested in holding the police accountable for their actions. Unintentionial killings usually result in a manslaughter charge ... however, the usual rules don't apply in Elkhart. The four taser-killing cops go free and Delano Smith's life is deemed irrelevant.
