TASER-LINKED DEATH ACCIDENTAL

Inquest Findings: Personal Trainer's Death In Custody Blamed On
Cocaine, Not Vancouver Police

The death of a 25-year-old man who was forcibly subdued and Tasered
by Vancouver police while high on crack cocaine has been ruled
accidental by the B.C. Coroner's Service following an inquest.

Roman Andreichikov's heart stopped beating during a struggle with
police at his Vancouver apartment May 1, 2004.

His family believe police were responsible for the death, suggesting
at the inquest through their lawyer Phil Rankin that the officers who
responded to the 911 call involving Andreichikov should have used
less dangerous methods of restraint than the Taser stun gun.

"Our position was that they [the police] should have tried
communicating with him first and not resorted to the Taser within the
first two minutes of contact," Rankin said in an interview.

Earlier in the day, after a week of hearing evidence, a five-person
jury ruled the death was caused by cocaine, not police.

The verdict came as a disappointment to the Andreichikov family, who
live in Richmond.

"The mother is just distraught," Rankin said, referring to Diana Andreichikov.

"She just doesn't believe that [the responding police officers] had
any business to fight with her son until he offered actual resistance
- -- actually fought with them."

Rankin said Diana Andreichikov told him Thursday that she wished her
son had killed himself.

"'At least he would have done it to himself, it would have been his
choice. This way they killed him in a fight,'" Rankin said Diana
Andreichikov told him.

Police said that although Andreichikov -- who was a personal trainer
- -- posed no immediate threat to them, they used the Taser because
they were afraid he was going to lunge at the officers.

The officers had been called to the apartment by a friend of
Andreichikov who said Andreichikov, who had been on a five-day crack
cocaine binge, was suicidal and had twice tried to throw himself off
his fourth-floor balcony.

One officer testified during the inquest that upon entering
Andreichikov's apartment they found Andreichikov in an irrational
state, moaning and growling loudly and not making sense.

"He looked angry to me," Const. Darren Hall testified. "He looked
ready to explode . . . he was breathing incredibly fast. I could see
white foam coming out of his mouth."

Hall said he and the other officers feared Andreichikov was suffering
from "excited delirium -- a state of panic caused by heavy drug use
- -- and he needed to be handcuffed and taken to hospital as soon as possible.

At first, officers said, Andreichikov complied with their requests
that he lie down, but when he suddenly turned over, Hall said, he
stunned him with his Taser so he could be safely restrained.

Andreichikov fought back, and was Tasered a second time, while three
officers held him down and handcuffed him. A few moments later, the
officers noticed he wasn't breathing.

The jury recommended that police, in future, consider using a strap
restraint device to control people in an extreme agitated state,
rather than resorting to physical force. The jury also suggested that
paramedics with the advanced medical team be dispatched to any
situation involving extreme drug-induced psychosis, rather than
basic-level paramedics.

In the event of death, it said, blood samples be collected as soon as
possible in order to provide accurate cocaine-level readings.

The jury has also recommended that a joint committee be established
with the police and medical community and other appropriate agencies
to review current practices and procedures when dealing with people
suffering cocaine-induced psychosis.