November 24, 2009

Mesa Police Admit Taser Shots Contributed to Death of Francisco Sesate

Mesa Police Department issued a report that acknowledges that the two taser shots of 50,000 volts each into the body of 36-year old Francisco Sesate contributed to his death. The report concludes that drugs (opiates, amphetamines and cocaine) and physical exertion contributed to his death on August 20. [SOURCE]

Doctors who treated him at Banner Desert Medical Center said the combination of drugs in Sesate's system, the blasts from the Taser and his 108-degree body temperature meant his organs were "basically cooking inside his body."

Miguel "Mike" Sesate told investigators he last saw his son the day before, when he dropped him off at the Greyhound station. Francisco had $500 in his pocket and ambitions of reconnecting with his daughters in Nebraska, Miguel Sesate said.

"Francisco had planned to move to Nebraska to start a new life and to be close to his two daughters," the father told police. "Things weren't working out for Francisco since he was released from prison three months earlier."
Instead of being helped ... Francisco Sesate was killed.

Sesate created a disturbance in a convenience store parking lot. He was buck naked. He behaved badly. However, he was not armed. And the penalty for disturbing the peace is NOT DEATH.

About 1:45 p.m., Officer Dennis Riordan arrived and found Sesate hiding behind an advertising sign outside the front door. Seven hours after the police arrived ... Sesate was dead.

"Sesate was grunting and moaning and not obeying my commands," Riordan wrote in his report. A second officer arrived, and Sesate came forward, but refused to comply with police.

So the police decided it was a good idea to use their taser twice to kill Sesate. It appears that disrespecting the police gives them a license to kill.

After Sesate shoved the second officer, Riordan fired his Taser, hitting Francisco Sesate in the chest. Cell phone video shot by customer inside the store captured the man falling through the business' front door and onto the ground.

The video, which was uploaded to YouTube (can anyone point the EV-Blog to this video?), shows the officers struggling with Sesate on the floor as they attempt to handcuff both hands. When the man refused to place both hands behind his back, Riordan fired his Taser a second time.

Police successfully handcuffed the man.

"After Francisco was rolled over on his right side, I noticed that Francisco appeared not to be responsive or breathing," a police report states.
The handcuffs were removed and police began CPR. Too late. Sesate was too far gone at this point.

Detective Steve Berry, a police spokesman, said it's department policy to investigate incidents where an officer's use of force resulted in death. That investigation remains ongoing, and a final use of force report has not yet completed.

When will the police recognize that their use of tasers is causing more damage than good? When will the training for restraint of a suspect be upgraded to eliminate the use of taser guns for convenience rather than for cause/need?

What say u?

1 comment:

Double A said...

I do not see anywere in the information you provided that say the police admit the Taser had anything to do with his death. It seems pretty clear that he was in a lethal drug overdose (ie core temp so high). I will say that Mesa PD tased two other people within a mile of that QT that night for people doing similar stuff. Apperently a bad batch of meth got out (as if there is a good batch) and apperently when you mix herion and cocaine to this bad meth it makes it lethal. The others did not die. Why? Im guessing they didnt have the same lethal mix of illegal drugs in thier system. They chose to only have one illegal drug in thier system.