Drug suspect dies after police shock him with stun gun

NASHVILLE (AP) — A suspect who police said had just put a rock of crack cocaine in his mouth died about an hour after he was stunned with a Taser, but a preliminary autopsy Saturday determined he choked to death.

Nashville officers were using the stun gun to try to get Walter Lamont Seats, 23, to spit out what he put in his mouth during an arrest Friday, police spokesman Don Aaron said.

Sgt. Gary Faulcon touched Seats on the arm with the Taser, sending 50,000 volts through his body, after warning the suspect he would be stunned if he didn’t spit out the object, Aaron said.

Soon after Seats was subdued and handcuffed, officers noticed him acting strangely.

“He appeared ill. He was drooling. He just didn’t seem right,” Aaron said.

Seats died after he was sent to the hospital. Officers said they didn’t find cocaine in his mouth and think he swallowed it.

Saturday’s autopsy discovered Seats choked to death on a plastic bag allegedly containing cocaine rocks that blocked his windpipe. It was first discovered lodged in Seats’ throat during the autopsy, authorities said.

Police Chief Ronal Serpas expressed sympathy to Seats’ family on Saturday.

“It is important for the community to understand, however, that the preliminary cause of death identified at autopsy does not implicate the use of a Taser,” he said in a statement.

It was the first time a suspect has died after Nashville police used a stun gun. The department put 45 of the guns into officers’ hands in November, contending they are safer than regular guns, nightsticks or pepper spray.

Tasers are used by more than 7,000 police agencies but blamed by Amnesty International in the deaths of more than 100 people in the United States and Canada since 1999.

Police said the events begin about 2:30 p.m. Friday and unfolded this way:

Undercover officer Yannick Deslauriers bought a pencil-eraser-size rock of crack cocaine from Seats for $20.

Other officers approached to arrest Seats, saw him put what they thought was cocaine in his mouth and ordered him to spit it out. They weren’t sure if he swallowed it then or hid it under his tongue or in his jaw.

Officers wrestled the 150-pound suspect to the ground. He was stunned after he again refused orders to spit out what he had in his mouth.

Officers called for the ambulance at 2:37 p.m. and Seats was at the hospital by 2:53 p.m.

“Doctors reported that his heartbeat was normal but fast when he first arrived. His condition worsened, and he was pronounced dead at 3:42 p.m.,” a Metro police statement said.