KVOA

Posted: Nov 12, 2009 6:56 PM
Updated: Nov 12, 2009 8:06 PM

 CORPUS CHRISTI - A man who was tasered by police officers last night remains in critical condition. The incident also left 5 Corpus Christi police officers on paid administrative leave. It all unfolded last night outside the Wingstop on Wooldridge near Cimmarron.
     Witnesses told police that the 58 year old white male was acting bizarre, cussing at officers and at one point banging his hand up against some glass at the Wingstop. The Police Department continues it's investigation into what happened here and why it took five officers to bring down one guy. An officer identified as Steve Beletic, spotted the 58 year old man riding his bike the wrong way near Airline and Wooldridge Wednesday night. Officer Beletic yelled at the bike rider to stop, the guy refused and kept riding to the Wingstop. That's where Officer Beletic caught up with him. The man began to struggle and Beletic called for backup. Four other officers identified as Officer D. Anderson, Officer R. Murray, Officer J. Rhodes and Officer J. Tello arrived at the scene. An unidentified CCISD officer driving by also assisted. During a struggle to subdue the suspect, Officer Murray fired his taser twice. The first time the taser probes didn't make contact. The second time, the taser was held against the suspect but because the man was wearing several layers of clothing, the electrical charge probably didn't reach his skin. Officer D. Anderson also pepper sprayed the suspect, that didn't work either. The group did eventually get the suspect handcuffed. Captain Todd Green said "they checked on his condition and noticed he wasn't breathing, officers immediately began CPR, they called for an ambulance."
     At this time, police don't know why the man stopped breathing, but they say it's possible he could have a medical condition which may also account for his bizarre behavior. As for why it took so long to get him under control, Captain Green had this to say "surprisingly people that aren't as big a physical threat when they make up their mind their not going to have handcuffs put on them, they're going to put up a very violent struggle."
Those five officers on paid administrative leave were undergoing psychological evaluation on Thursday but they're expected to return to duty very soon. "It will probably go pretty quickly some of them may be back to duty this evening," Captain Green said. Meanwhile, an internal investigation will continue. But Captain Green says it doesn't appear the officers did anything wrong. Investigators are also waiting for the results of toxicology tests to find out if he was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol.