A 29-year-old man from San Bernardino, California died Tuesday after being tasered and pepper sprayed by the police. The man, Jonathan White, had schizophrenia and lived at a home for people with mental illness managed his mother in the 1100 block of E. 26th Street, KTLA reports.
The police were responding to the 9am 9-1-1 call White's mother, Janice White, made. Ms. White told KTLA that her son suffered from schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. She told the police they'd need several officers to subdue him because he "started going off and throwing things and he took off his clothes and everything and was just yelling at nobody. He was just standing there yelling for no reason."
As the Los Angeles Times reports, when several police officers attempted to take White into custody and he resisted, the officers used a taser and pepper spray. Because of White's resistance, paramedics were called, and as they were assessing the situation, White stopped breathing.
At 10:10am, St. Bernardine Medical Center pronounced White dead. An autopsy will be conducted this week to determine cause of death. The information will be used to investigate if White's death was accidental or if criminal charges should be filed against the officers.
Dana Scruggs, an attorney who has worked on taser cases, told the Huffington Post that the investigation will likely look into if the police used unreasonable force and if they were properly trained on how to use a taser. Scruggs said that the officers should have been trained to avoid causing cardiac arrest by not tasing more than once in a row and not aiming at the chest.
CORRECTION: This news entry has been modified to clarify where White is from.