TASER USE DEFENDED IN LATEST DEATH

Orange Deputies Think Drugs Played A Role When A Man Who Is Shocked Dies

Steam rolled off a nearly naked man running barefoot into traffic
early Thursday on East Colonial Drive.

He didn't notice the pre-dawn chill or the orders of the first Orange
County deputies responding to a 911 call about bizarre behavior at
the Big Oaks Mobile Home Park.

Within minutes, Jeffrey Earnhardt became the fifth county resident
since 2002 to die after being shocked with a Taser. His is the latest
of more than 70 Taser-related deaths nationwide that have caused a
controversy over whether the stun guns contributed to some of those deaths.

The four previous deaths in Orange County -- three involving deputies
and one involving Orlando police -- were attributed to the suspects'
drug abuse, unrelated to the Taser's electrical discharge. Homicide
investigators said Thursday that they suspect autopsy results will
show Earnhardt, 47, had deadly drug levels in his blood.

"He had a history of methamphetamine abuse" and showed signs of an
overdose, including profuse sweating, incredible strength, agitation
and skin that was hot to the touch, said homicide Sgt. Paul
Zambouros. "The deputies said they saw steam coming off him."

Cheryl Johnson, the dead man's girlfriend, told investigators that
Earnhardt showed up about 2 a.m. at her home overlooking East
Colonial Drive and repeatedly said he thought he was dying.

Jittery and unable to sit or stand for very long, Earnhardt refused
her offers to take him to a hospital, deputies said. He had been
acting as if he had been high on amphetamines since 10:30 a.m. the
previous day, deputies said after interviewing Johnson and her
mother. Methamphetamine is an illegal form of amphetamine, which has
been increasingly abused in Florida and throughout the U.S. during
the past 20 years.

The first deputy reached the mobile-home park at 6:23 a.m., seven
minutes after someone made an anonymous 911 call about a man
screaming in the dark and running into traffic, sheriff's records
show. Shortly after Deputy Frank Bonetti arrived, he called over the
radio for immediate backup and followed with a second, more-urgent
request for any deputy in the area, records show.

Confronted by Earnhardt, who refused to get out of the roadway,
Bonetti said the man rushed him and twice punched him before he fired
his Taser. The weapon's 5-second jolt of 50,000 volts of electricity
is designed to subdue any adult, but it didn't appear to have any
effect, according to interviews.

Bonetti, a retired New York City police officer who joined the
Sheriff's Office in 2004, reloaded the Taser with a new cartridge and
fired again, sending two tethered prongs at Earnhardt. By then, other
deputies had arrived and forced Earnhardt to the ground and
handcuffed him within 10 feet of the road next to a Lynx bus stop.

At some point in the struggle, deputies realized he was not breathing
and called Orange County Fire Rescue paramedics, Zambouros said.

Earnhardt was pronounced dead at 7:23 a.m. in the emergency room of
Florida Hospital East.

"This is unfortunate, but in-custody deaths are always going to
occasionally happen," said Capt. David Ogden, one of the sheriff's
top authorities on Taser use.

Early reports appear to indicate that Earnhardt's behavior was "a
classic example of exhilarated delirium," a drug-induced state
associated with other Taser-related deaths, Ogden said.

"It appears that the training has kicked in," Ogden said, noting that
deputies tried to prevent injury to Earnhardt by quickly subduing him
rather than allowing a prolonged struggle with repeated Taser shocks.

Supporters in law enforcement say Tasers have all but eliminated
officers' on-the-job injuries from fighting with suspects. They also
say they have saved hundreds of suspects' lives by giving officers a
less-lethal alternative to firearms.

But opponents, including Amnesty International, say the weapon can be
abused by being discharged too many times or used on people in
nonviolent situations.

Court records show Earnhardt had been arrested more than 20 times
since the mid-1980s on drinking and drug-related charges. Deputies
said Johnson told them that two of her boyfriend's brothers died from
drug-related causes in the 1990s.

Earnhardt lived most recently with his father, Jay Earnhardt, in Winter Garden.

The elder Earnhardt told deputies that he was a close relative of
NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt, who died in 2001 in a crash during the
Daytona 500. A spokesman for the Dale Earnhardt Inc., the seven-time
Winston Cup champion's race team, could not be reached for comment.