Posted by MilkofAmnesia on October 4, 2008 at 12:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

What a crock. Nothing would have been able to save him due to the use of the coke before getting tazed. Officers are trained to TRY and determine if someone is in excited delirium, however it is tough to discern between that or just psychological issues.

I remember this story and also remember that the decedent was tazed the week prior by another law enforcement agency. Again, he was under the influence of cocaine. Is the family going to sue them too?

Posted by fullmoon on October 4, 2008 at 2:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I dealt with Kip in the past. He was very high and very dangerous.

Police officers deal with subjects like this on a regular basis and in most instances, despite the high level of risk, no one (subject, police, innocent people) is seriously injured.

If anyone thinks they could have done a better job subduing him that night please include your cell phone number in your post. I'll be sure to call you the next time one of my fellow officers is dispatched to a large, strong, naked, sweating,raving, deranged, cracked out, subject running through the streets and you can show us how you would handle him before he harms or kills an innocent person.

Posted by CedarPosts on October 4, 2008 at 5:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Crack dealers are scum but how low can you go selling crack or cocaine to a helpless retarded guy?

I know retarded is not very PC!

I'll agree with FullMoon.... back in the day LE would just pull out the mace of course that would just make the perp more agitated so call for backup and then the night sticks would come out and beat the SOB until he stopped moving that not working, someone would just shoot him.

The result would be the same.

Fact is ten jolts of 10,000 volts is enough to fry a chicken in a microwave. The best way to avoid being tazed to death is stay off the crack!

Thomas good points, and I got a laugh at your calling out FullMoon.

Ya'll have a good day, I'm off to run the 5k race for the cure even wearing pink!

Posted by gococks1985 on October 4, 2008 at 6:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

full moon-you're a cop....wow. are you effing stupid to ask us to post our phone numbers here..good job, i want you in my corner...NOT. I hope you get your information Thomas.

Posted by MP on October 4, 2008 at 7:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thomas1776, Yes, the tazer does "stimulate" the heart and other organs. It is a 50,000 volt shock. So what. So does a defibrillator. Would you prefer they give a violent suspect a 40 caliber "shock"? The police do not go down the street tazering innnocent people. They tazer people who will not do as they are requested by the police who are responding to a circumstance that obviously has a good chance of or is already becoming violent. Give them credit for trying to use a less lethal method of getting control of a situation.

Posted by UberBlitzkrieg on October 4, 2008 at 8:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I have read over all of your post before and you have been nasty to many other posters. I am surprised with the the history of your attitude that you even were issued a badge, if that is even true. You clearly come across as a overly cocky and belligerent character that carries a chip on their shoulder where ever they go.
----

Well, well Thomas... isn't that calling the kettle black.

Sheeesh!

Posted by jeff61 on October 4, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)

North Charleston police came upon a mentally impaired man who was high on cocaine, acting erratically and spinning around a utility pole, Four officers took the 240-pound combative man to the ground. He died at a local hospital.

Case dismissed. Plaintiffs will be charged court cost and attorney fees

Posted by kontact on October 4, 2008 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thomas-Thank you

How many people have to die of taser related incidents before they are banned by law enforcement;I full support law enforcement but 1 death is too much for me to stand.
Did anyone read that this man was mentally retarded or was it just me? Come on gus what if it had been your brother, sister, mother, loved one, etc...Would yall be so quick t judge then? WOW!!

Posted by ysillyme on October 4, 2008 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Fullmoon~
Your post is a reason LEO's in Chas. Co. are not respected. When Law Enforcement is mandated to hire women and minorities not qualified, as well as white Barney Fife look alikes, no wonder 4 officers can't take him down w/out tasers or batons. One hits him low, two hit him high, and one nails him in the head w/ a flashlight several times. I've seen some fat ass women and men wearing Police uniforms as well as some really fit guys. That man should not have died.

Posted by Perspective on October 4, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thomas - You crack me up when you don't make me feel sick. For every study that says tasers are bad there are 100 that say they save lives. Admittedly, there are a lot of studies that say tasers, heart conditions, and being extremely high on cocaine don't mix very well. But since being extremely high on cocaine is illegal ........

Fullmoon - If you are a cop, you are not required to tell Thomas anything unless it is face to face. Then only if you are attempting to take offical action. Thomas probably thinks like those suspects on Cops. You know the ones. They sell crack to an undercover cop all the while saying, "Are you a cop? You have to tell me." I love that show. It shows how dumb some people really are. At law school the first year there are always a bunch of misguided liberals that seriously believe law enforcement has to tell you if they are the police.

Kontact - You are probably right. They should have let him keep running into traffic, cause an accident, and maybe let a whole innocent family with children be killed instead. Glad you are not calling the shots on my familiy's safety. What does the guy being mentally retarded have to do with it? Did you expect them to give him a psych test before preventing him from running into traffic? Do the mentally retarded have more rights than other people?

ysillyme - You clearly have no idea what it is like to fight with a naked sweaty 240 lb person high on crack. Have you ever tried to grab a fish out of the bottom of a boat? Make it twice the size of a dolphin and HANG ON!

jeff61 - You are right, case dismissed. Where were these blood sucking family members when Cracky was smoking the rocks. I bet at least one was probably helping spend his tax payer supplied disability check. Leave it to the liberals, huh?

MP - He will not acknowledge that they did the best job possible given a set of horrible choices. If they let the guy run back into traffic they would be wrong. If they shot him they would be wrong. If they applied enough physical force and baton strikes to prevent him from running into traffic they would be wrong. You see he hates law enforcement and can not be reasoned with. He doesn't even think swat officers should have tactical vests.

Posted by UberSCwasp on October 4, 2008 at 11:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

*yawn*

Posted by 10216340 on October 4, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Sounds to me like the family is just looking for another gravy train. Pathetic that they would use this as an excuse to rip off money (taxpayer money at that).

Of course the guy was retarded.....obviously the nut didn't fall far from the tree.

Posted by blackberry_fan on October 4, 2008 at 2:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I find it interesting that the families of these crackheads don't want anything to do with them when they are alive and really need help. Then when they die due to their own stupidity they want to file a lawsuit and get some money out of it. I hope gets thrown out just like the Wilder case.

Posted by Creeker01 on October 4, 2008 at 4:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree, they should outlaw those effective deterrents and other safety and less lethal devices as well.

They should return to the Darwinian affect... in which batons and firearms are the tools of choice to evade enforcement injury.

Posted by UberSCwasp on October 5, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

*yawn*

Posted by WSM on October 5, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Never underestimate simple greed:

"a mentally impaired man who was high on cocaine, acting erratically and spinning around a utility pole"

"Three officers approached and said they wanted to take him to a hospital. Black began chewing on his driver's license and running into traffic..."

"Cpl. Troy L. Capps and officer Hampton Jenkins used Tasers and chemical spray to little or no effect, authorities said."

"Four officers took the 240-pound combative man to the ground. He died at a local hospital."

"The Charleston County Coroner's Office ruled that the cocaine caused Black to die from "excited delirium syndrome.""

Okaaayyyyyyy...

So it is the County that is responsible for the death of a crazy cokehead?

Here's a marvel idea: County sues the family who knowingly endangered the lives of other innocent people, by allowing their crazy, 200+ pound cokehead relative to run in and out of traffic, nedangering the public and costing manpower and county treasure.

This is prima facie evidence of why we should have "loser pays" with civil lawsuits in this country.

Posted by coolfreaknbeans on October 5, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I posted this before-here it goes again.
Every single police officer I know in order to carry a taser has to be tased first.They are all fine.You have here a man jacked up on cocaine and it's the taser that caused his heart to stop?OMG!This is hilarious.If these officers did nothing to stop him and he ran into traffic and died or killed someone else...they would've been negligent.Not to mention the officers tried pepper spray first.Damned if you do,damned if you don't.

Posted by wonderdog on October 5, 2008 at 8:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Great posts, WSM and coolfreaknbeans.

Where was the loving family when their mentally impaired family member was getting coked up? I work in the legal field, and it's so heart warming to see how violent, dangerous, drug crazed, alcoholic individuals become dear, gentle loved ones when there's a chance the family can make money off their deaths.

Tasers are implemented by police departments as another step in the list of methods used to subdue violent suspects before an officer uses his service weapon. Ok?

Posted by RedSnappa on October 5, 2008 at 10:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The real scumbag here is the lame attorney that is filing this case. I'll bet he is a real winner! And lawyers wonder why people hate them!

Posted by wonderdog on October 6, 2008 at 7 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Probably the same attorney who files suit against a driver who hits a drunk wearing dark clothing stumbling into traffic on a dark highway in the middle of the night....

Posted by heehaw2008 on October 6, 2008 at 7:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

hey i stubbed my toe while walking drunk on Meeting Street. Can i sue the department of highways and transportation?

Posted by wonderdog on October 6, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Actually, heehaw2008, someone has beaten you to it.

Fullmoon, thank you for the job you and other LEO's do to protect us from people like this guy.

Posted by ydelezzup on October 7, 2008 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

2 of the officers involved in this incident were injured because of this man....do you see them suing? One had to have 2 knee surgeries and was ultimately fired from North Charleston Police Department because he was out on Workers Compensation and had exhausted his FMLA leave. Also, Kip Black has been arrested several times (check him out on www3.charlestoncounty.org) and about 2 or so weeks before this incident, he put 2 Colleton County Deputies in the hospital. He admitted to smoking crack to the hospital doctor. Mr. Black also was arrested for abusing his common law wife who is filing the suit against the City, et al.
How were the officer supposed to know of his mental status? The lady that is referred to in the complaint telling the officers of Mr. Black's mental status is incorrect....she informed the officers that he had been smoking crack all night. FUNNY how that isn't in the complaint as it is CLEARLY on the incident report.
The officers and the department were cleared of any wrongdoing by the Solicitor and SLED. I hope that North Charleston moves this case to Federal Court and a Judge dismisses. Wonder how the Estate would feel being sued for Assault and Battery and for these Officers lost wages and medical bills.
It is sad that this man had to die but correct me if I am wrong...what is the standard operating procedure when someone who is not an officer tries to get in your patrol car and is FIGHTING the police??
Also, Kip Black was WELL KNOWN at the Charleston County Detention Center as he was a frequent visitor.