Man's death during arrest attempt under investigation
Daily News staff

Originally published — 11:36 a.m., March 13, 2007
Updated — 6:11 p.m., March 13, 2007

The Collier County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a man after deputies tried to arrest him this morning.

Muszack Nazaire, 24, of Immokalee was driving on a suspended license, fled law enforcement authorities and was Tasered by deputies, according to Nazaire's father, who was at the scene Tuesday.

The Sheriff's Office gave this account:

The man who died was spotted driving in a vehicle, along with two other men, around 4:30 a.m., after sheriff’s dispatchers received a call about an individual driving without a license in East Naples.

Deputies tried to stop the vehicle at Estey and San Remo avenues, but the driver refused to stop and headed into Golden Gate. After a brief pursuit, the driver drove through the backyard of a residence and into a canal on 55th Terrace Southwest. He drove the car partially into the water. He then fled into the canal and swam away. The two passengers were taken out of the car by deputies.

The man who fled eventually returned to shore, where he was confronted by deputies.

"Deputies then attempted to arrest the man and during the course of the attempt, it is believed that a Taser was deployed,'' the Sheriff's Office said in a news release. "While making the arrest, the man experienced a medical emergency. Deputies and EMS attempted to resuscitate him, but were unsuccessful.''

I think this stems from the fact that the press release was made very soon after the incident and not all facts had been confirmed. The officer's involved have the same constitutional rights as anyone else and cannot be compelled to make a statement at the scene of an in custody death if that statement might be inaccurate due to the distortions associated with the stress of the recent incident. "Inaccurate" statements are immediately labeled as lies and cover-ups by the media, attorneys (criminal and civil) and certain interest groups.

While "may have been deployed" seems unnecessarily vague and benign, it was the most accurate thing the PIO could say at the time.

Hmmmm.....if it was a taser, the guy probably had some kind of heart condition for him to die from it.

Still carrying that anti-authority torch, eh, Sopwith?

I believe we've been through this before. The number of deaths from Tasers are pretty low in comparison to their total use. Houston, TX alone logged more than 1000 taser uses between 2003-2004. And a significant amount of the deaths that DID occur in "taser-related" incidents occured while the defendants were on drugs such as PCP or cocaine.

Read for youself:

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAMR511392004

Again I ask you consider this: Most of these cases would not have even occurred if the people had not broken the law in the first place. Responsibility ultimately lies with them.

The attorney question...

"Were you lying then, or are you lying now?" comes to mind. Been on the receiving end of that one several times and even if I knew it was all a game, it still made me want to punch someone in the face.

It is a smart thing to do to give out only the information that is absolutely confirmed. Any inaccuracy, well intended or not, will be punished heavily in the public opinion via the media.

I wonder how Sopwith feels about this:

http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/s...e5#Post15931668