May 21--BARSTOW -- A man died early Monday morning after authorities used a Taser to subdue him, with reports the man ran across lanes of Interstate 15, threw rocks at patrol units and even bit one officer.
The incident shut down the eastbound Lenwood Road on-ramp to the southbound I-15 for more than eight hours as both the California Highway Patrol and Barstow Police Department conduct internal investigations.
The unidentified man who appeared to be in his 20s was reported to have been running onto the freeway when the CHP was called at 1:48 a.m., according to Officer Mario Lopez. When officers from both the CHP and the Barstow Police Department approached him, the man ran across the northbound and the southbound lanes of the I-15 and was "acting erratic," Lopez said.
"I almost hit him with my semi truck this morning," Glenn Bloomer posted on the Desert Dispatch website.
Officers deployed their Taser and the man went into cardiac arrest. Lopez did not know which department deployed the stun gun.
Officers performed CPR on the man until paramedics from the Barstow Fire Department arrived. He was transported to Barstow Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner is investigating the cause of death.
Contact the writer: (760) 256-4123 or [email protected]
Copyright 2012 - Desert Dispatch, Barstow, Calif.
