Taser Death: Howard Hammon (Middleburg Heights, OH)

Howard Hammon

It happened again. This time a 41-year old man was electrocuted by Middleburg Heights (OH) police officers after he was involved in a traffic accident. The police in this case are already beginning to look suspicious. The police are spinning the story as quickly as they can to place the blame on the victim, Howard Hammon.


The basic facts of the case appear clear. Howard Hammons was alive on Monday evening at 11:00 PM. He was driving and got involved in a car accident. The driver of the other car said Hammon stopped and asked her if she was OK.

Police arrived on the scene of the accident. Instead of helping a man who was obviously dazed from the car accident ... they went into 'gestapo' mode and pumped Hammon's body with 50,000 volts of electricity four or five times. Once he was knocked out from the electrocution he was handcuffed.

Unfortunately for the police it turns out that Hammon was dead. He was rushed to the hospital where his death was confirmed.


Here is where the police try to taint the public perception of Hammon. They claim Hammon resisted efforts to handcuff him, and officers took him to the ground. The man, more than 6 feet tall and 275 pounds, continued to struggle with officers after they warned him that he would be shocked if he did not stop.

The first time he was shocked he was unfazed. After the second time, officers were able to link two sets of handcuffs on him and he stayed on the ground.   The police don't mention that they used their taser guns at least twice more before they were done.

The police also wanted the police to know that Hammon had a marijuana joint clip in his pocket. Why was that factoid important? Does having marijuana paraphernalia justify execution?

Of course the police were not as honest in their approach to the family. The family was informed that Hammon died in an auto accident. They didn't realize that he had been electrocuted until they saw the reports on television.

"How could they do that to a person? What if that was their brother? I loved him with all my heart," said Hammon's sister, Neva Hammon.

"They executed my son. That's cowboy action," said Hammon's father, Howard Hammon, Sr.

John Maddox

Middleburg Heights Police Chief John Maddox says that his police officers decided it was best for the hospital to break the news to the family about what happened.

When asked why the hospital failed to inform the family about the extra-judicial electrocution, Maddox said he wasn't sure why that wasn't mentioned.

"They told us he died from hitting the windshield. Or maybe his chest from hitting the airbag. That's what the doctors told us," said Neva Hammon.

The police indicate that the arrest was caught on their patrol car's video camera. Well, they say that "most" of the arrest is on film. The end of the arrest appears to be unavailable. I imagine that will be the part of the tape where Hammon was killed.

This taser-killing seems suspicious to me. What say u?