Drug suspect dies from police Taser
By Vince Mancini
Published on August 02, 2005
The suspect, 35-year-old Terrance Thomas of Long Island, had been arrested for driving a stolen vehicle and cocaine possession.
Thomas complained to cops that he wasn't feeling well, but when EMS units arrived, he became violent, and neither medics nor cops could get him out of his holding cell. Police said they tried a restraining net and then a single Taser charge to subdue him.
According to police, the shock incapacitated Thomas, but he was conscious and alert in the ambulance.
Thomas went into cardiac arrest and died on the way to Queens General Hospital.
Family members say Thomas had no history of heart problems.
The incident raises further questions about the safety of Taser stun guns, who critics have linked to more than a hundred deaths nationwide, and whose manufacturer is the subject of a class action suit.
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