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KBI Takes Up Goodyear Worker Death Save Email Print
Posted: 7:28 AM Apr 9, 2008
Last Updated: 4:43 PM Apr 9, 2008

A | A | A

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the death of a man who was tasered three times by a local sheriff's deputy and died of causes the cornor says were not taser-related.

Shawnee County Sheriff Richard Barta told The Topeka Capital-Journal that he asked the KBI to become involved and it began investigating Monday. Barta says its findings will go to the district attorney's office.

Shawnee County's coroner has released his report on the March 30 death of Walter E. Haake Jr.

The coroner says Haake died after being held face down by deputies while they were handcuffing him.

The coroner says compression of his chest, combined with his diabetes and cardiac problems, led to his death.

Deputies were responding to a call that Haake was having medical problems at work.
___

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Posted by: jerry Location: effingham, ks on Apr 10, 2008 at 08:10 PM
An intentional act that results in an unintended death is voluntary manslaughter. Police officers are trained to do what the "reasonable person" would do and a reasonable person would not use a stun gun and force on a person they felt was disoriented and ill, who was not posing a threat to anyone. Additionally when EMS forced medical care on a person who refused, they were violating his liberty. Reasonable people may have called a family member and waited for them to arrive, but would not have manhandled someone who had done nothing wrong. Oh, and a clean record or not, these officers clearly do not have the judgement to be police officers.

Posted by: Anonymous on Apr 10, 2008 at 07:02 PM
Has anyone mentioned that the poor guy was a large man. Perhaps the EMTs should've known that he shouldn't have been placed on his stomach. Speaking of EMTs, doesn't Goodyear have their own on staff? Why isn't anyone blamimg Goodyear for calling the horrible sheriff's officers, or for calling the EMTs, or for sending him home early... I guess if you've got to blame someone, there are plenty of choices. It's just unfortunate that they all didn't just pull up chairs and watch the guy die. It sounds as though you all know them, and say they are lazy. Perhaps the reason for the so called low housing market in Topeka is that fact that it's a hateful city.

Posted by: Anonymous on Apr 10, 2008 at 04:54 PM
JC, your outlook is completely wrong here. no one is even remotely trying to claim he posed a threat to THEIR safety. the man posed a threat to his OWN saftey. the man was DYING. the ONLY conclusion that can be drawn from your comments is that YOU feel it was appropriate for them to just allow him to sit there in his car, and die. Suicide more or less is what you are condoning here. No one involved in this situation, EMS, Goodyear, Security, or Cops wanted to see this man die, they wanted to save him, and they did what they could to do so. I personally feel that they should have cuffed him in the front and not behind the back, but that's not the point of argument here. My father suffers from similar symptoms as this man, and I realize that it's a very realistic possibility that my family or emergency services could potentially be put in a position to use force on him when he's stricken like that, simply to save his life. The man I LOVE, I might have to forcefully save.

Posted by: JC Location: Topeka on Apr 10, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Dear Anonymous on Apr 9,2008 at 07:51 AM The Taser band wagon, really, perhaps you would feel different it you were suffering an illness, sitting in your car, not responding to an officier due to your medical condition, who then decideds to tase you, so that they could remove you from your vehicle according to their time table. He was not going any where, perhaps the emergency personnel could have gotten a tenative look at him in his vehicle, perhaps they could have waited a little longer, there was no reason to thing action must occur rightthen and there. So what would they have done had they not had tasers, shot him, use a black jack, excuse me, while he was not responding to the officers in a manner that they wanted, I have seen nothing to indicate that he had possed a threat to their health or safety. The actions that they took were excessive and uncalled for in any medical situation.

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Topeka on Apr 9, 2008 at 11:34 PM
I agree with you Roger. In this case the officers should be punished because like they said it wasn't just his medical condition but it was also the fact of how they handled him!

Posted by: Roger on Apr 9, 2008 at 05:19 PM
As the coronor reported this was an accident. He died because his medical condition and the fact he was HANDCUFFED! Let's not forget he was tased 3 times. I know everybody is either on the hate them or love them bandwagons, but get a grip. The officers on scene were wrong in this matter. They need to be punished. I am not saying jail, but they should have something done to them. If we don't do anything now to say this is wrong, the sheriff's department officers will do this again and agian and again. The badges are not always right. Lets remember that.

Posted by: K Location: Topeka on Apr 9, 2008 at 03:22 PM
The bigger issues is that deputies felt it appropriate behaviour to taser and wrestle a man to the ground that was known to be ill. As stroke survivor myself it scares me to think that if I were sitting in my own nonmoving vehicle without my car keys with a stroke or heart attack in evolution, that cops find it appropriate to tase an individual, force them to the ground, put a knee in their back and cuff them. Who other than himself was he endangering? Some law enforcement officials misuse their powers. If this situation is left undisciplined everyone should be concerned about who helps you in the time of medical crisis. You could be next

Posted by: William Location: topeka on Apr 9, 2008 at 10:46 AM
It's called positional asphyxiation. Regardless of ones health, lying any person face down after any type of exercise, i.e., whether that's running, fighting, etc... where they are restricted from getting off their chest can cause death. The person will simply stop breathing. It's like getting your breath knocked out by a ball or falling too hard on your back. The distinct difference is when laying face down you wont start breathing again until your rolled over or sat up.

Posted by: Anonymous on Apr 9, 2008 at 07:51 AM
This is still a VERY VERY sad situation, and knowing the Haake family, my heart goes out to them. However, all of you Taser haters can obviously get off your Taser bandwagon, b/c as I said all along, that did not kill him. Tasers never have, Tasers never will. There is always something more to it, if a death results after a tasing, as we find out now.

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