I know I give cops a lot of shit on here when they screw up. This case out of El Paso is not one of those times. Let’s watch the video, then we can discuss it.
Watching the video, it appears like this man is on some sort of drugs. This isn’t a mental health breakdown in my opinion. The cop uses his TASER.
There are some in comments to the above post, claiming the TASER was used too many times and stopped the man’s heart. That’s not the case. A TASER delivers 3 joules of energy. A defibrillator delivers 200-360 joules to an adult heart. There simply isn’t enough energy in a TASER to stop a person’s heart. In the cases of in-custody death that occurred after TASER deployment, it turns out the decedent had cocaine on board nearly every time.
One thing that may have contributed to the death was something called positional asphyxia. When a person is handcuffed with his hands behind his back and is placed in a prone position, the chest can’t fully expand and the person can die as a result. In that case, the cops would have been at fault to at least some extent. A person whose hands are cuffed behind him MUST NOT be placed in a prone position, especially if they are already exerting themselves in an attempt to breathe, such as immediately following an extended wrestling match with arresting officers, as per guidelines from the US Department of Justice.
The cause of most explained in-custody deaths is a little-known phenomenon called positional asphyxia, in which body position interferes with the ability to breathe. Several pre-existing factors are identified that increase an individual’s susceptibility to positional asphyxia, including cocaine-induced frenzied behavior, other drugs and/or alcohol intoxication, violent struggle resulting in restraint of subject, and unresponsiveness during or immediately after struggle. A subject’s pre-existing risk, coupled with their body position when subdued or in transit, can combine to substantially increase their risk of sudden death from positional asphyxia.Â
This is why I recommend to all paramedics and nurses that they not transport or treat anyone whose hands are cuffed behind their back, especially not in a supine or even prone position. The patient should be sitting up, or can have both hands cuffed to a bed or stretcher. The Joint Commission (TJC) standards outline strict rules and requirements for managing patients in restraints or seclusion, emphasizing that these measures are high-risk emergency interventions.
Hospitals must have explicit written protocols detailing continuous or frequent observation:
- Patients must be monitored continuously or at frequent intervals determined by hospital policy (often documented every 15 minutes)
- Restraining a patient in a prone (face-down) position is highly restricted due to the severe risk of positional asphyxia; patients should typically be kept in a supine position with the head of the bed elevated if aspiration is a risk
- Staff must regularly assess and document the patient’s physical status, including vital signs, skin integrity, circulation in restrained limbs, hygiene, and the offering of nutrition, hydration, and toileting
Still, I think (looking at this video) the base cause here was whatever drugs were in this man’s system.
14 Comments
Joe Blow · August 28, 2026 at 9:21 am
I don’t do investment advice, but I am a shareholder. Checkout WRAP. It’s the answer to the TASR induced heart attack. Whether one finds that a good investment or not is up to you. Due diligence, etc.
Divemedic · August 28, 2026 at 2:04 pm
Tying someone up who is experiencing a drug induced delirium will have the same effect as the TASER. The majority of in custody deaths are from the drugs. Sure, many of them were tased, but I think that’s an issue of correlation and not causation.
Anonymous · August 28, 2026 at 9:28 am
IMHO- he is high on METH and by the way he is acting he has been high for quite some time. FAFO
Divemedic · August 28, 2026 at 9:43 am
I concur- either Meth or a cocaine derivative. Meth is more likely, because he barely responds to being tased.
Jesse · August 28, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Tragic. Unfortunately preventable.
Tom Hyland · August 28, 2026 at 10:00 am
Tasers deliver vitamins to crazed perpetrators. They become even more energized and frisky. This guy took on the appearance of a porcupine and tazed???… unfazed. However, the cops had him in cuffs and still were hitting with barbs for sport. His illegal relatives are going to win the lottery. Like Saint Sebastian there will be a statue unveiled of Juan cuffed with hands behind his back in the city square, a martyr for all illegals.
Robert · August 28, 2026 at 10:03 am
There was a risk to drivers underneath the bridge if the subject jumped off the bridge. The responding officer had to do something.
“De-escalation”? The subject was simply not going to respond to compliance orders, no matter what the first responding officer did. He was psychotic from whatever cause and the officer had no training or experience in dealing with that.
And it might not have made any difference if the officer was trained in dealing with psychosis. Some people cannot be reached during a psychotic episode.
The situation was always going to escalate to a use of force. That force was not skillfully applied.
The Taser use was appropriate. But Tasers frequently do not work very well or very long. That happened here. Two or three officers should have been able to control the subject. There were six officers, and they had quite a bit of trouble doing that. They could not get cuffs on the subject for at least three minutes.
The standard training for placing a combative subject into handcuffs is to squash them on to the ground, face down, and then cuff their hands behind their back. That absolutely guarantees positional asphyxia for a few moments, especially when you need two or three officers to do the squash down.
Positional asphyxia is not some “little known” or rare condition. It is a common and temporary experience when forcing someone into a prone position. Cuffed prisoners should be immediately turned to their side or placed in a sitting or standing position. That should be part of the standard training for such activities. It is not clear that it was.
The officers need to be quick about their business. They need to be done with cuffing and off a subject in less than 30 seconds. That takes more skill, training, and practice than these officers had.
It is hard to control a combative subject. Few officers can do that well. It is hard for me to criticize them, since I could not do it at all.
Steady Steve · August 28, 2026 at 5:19 pm
Can’t do much with a tweeker, they are halfway to dead with that much meth or crack in them.
We’ll have to see how the new shock gloves work out but when you are dealing with someone that can’t feel pain only brute force works.
Don Curton · August 29, 2026 at 5:50 am
Of course I’m thinking July, El Paso, bright sunny day? That pavement is at least 120 F or hotter. Laying down on hot pavement will get you at least 2nd degree burns in less than a minute. Yeah, he’s high and all that. I’m just thinking if an officer commanded me to lay down I’d have to at least talk back some. Cuff me standing up, I ain’t laying down on that pavement.
Modern Day Jeremiah · August 29, 2026 at 6:26 am
Yeah, Divemedic, the cops screwed the pooch on this one, big time. The man was obviously agitated (turns out from other sources he had cocaine in his system), but he initially complied the officer’s directions and got down on his knees. The cop Tasered him multiple times anyway. They later threatened to “break his f***ing neck”. It’s interesting that you bring up positional asphyxia, as the autopsy report stated he died of asphyxia. Myaybe handcuffs behind his back and kneeling on him for several minutes isn’t such a good idea after all. His family has filed a federal lawsuit. They will win, and they should.
And you are completely wrong on the ability of Tasers to induce fatal heart dysthymia. It’s documented in the literature.
TASER Electronic Control Devices Can Cause Cardiac Arrest in Humans
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.005504
Divemedic · August 29, 2026 at 6:48 am
I read the linked editorial. I disagree with it. It isn’t a study, it’s an opinion piece.
Modern Day Jeremiah · August 29, 2026 at 7:14 am
You can disagree with the link, but where is your data to refute it? I also note your lack of response to my assertion that the cops fucked up by the numbers. The cops aren’t always wrong, but they were this time. It’s not close.
Divemedic · August 29, 2026 at 7:55 am
It’s not a study with evidence, it’s anecdotal and reads like a high school writing project.
CE · September 1, 2026 at 2:09 pm
Not so much, one acute case of cocaine use, rather, a repeated pattern involving the nutrition-depleting effect of chronic use. Most ‘Muricans have a whole constellation of nutritional deficiencies, notably hypo-ascorbemia but also deficient in the B vitamins, and,importantly, Vitamin. E deficiency. It is known a long time that Vit. E deficiency in cattle makes them “die suddenly” – they just drop dead for no apparent reason. This was Canada and US back in the 40’s and 50’s until they figured it out and begain supplementing cattle diets with tocopherols. So, it is of little surprise that when a person chronically deficient in nutrition puts themselves in a streessful situation, that their outcome is less than optimal. Blame the police all you want, but the responsibility always resides with the individuals. If you run your self down nutritively, it’s just a matter of time one way or another…… Most of this mental illness can be attributed to deficient nutrition, this is known for a long time. Unfortunately, the masses cannot be educated on these topics, anymore, these days, all the recipients of information choose to do, is argue with the messenger. I see it as the result of decades of subliminal mind programming stemming from cheap TV shows, whose actors are always arguing about some stooopid topic. It rubs off on the audiences, and without knowing it, the audience members themselves become biquering mongers, haha, mongers of biquery. Try it sometime – try telling any of these mutherfkheads anything and all they want to do is return with argumentative challenges. They’re fking hopeless.
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