Caught on Tape: Cop Fight Turns Fatal

By: Mike Ballou
Topics: Caught on Tape

Video Courtesy of CBS Affiliate WAFB

LIVINGSTON, La. (CBS/AP) A police dash-cam caught dramatic footage of a highway scuffle between a La. sheriff's deputy and a man suspected of carrying drugs that ended in the man's death.

The sheriff's deputy pulled over 42-year-old Donel Adam Stogner for allegedly driving erratically east of Livingston along Interstate 12. While talking to Stogner, the deputy noticed that the suspect was hiding something in his hand and ordered Stogner to open his fist.

When Stogner would not open his clenched fist, the deputy tried to arrest him and pry what he thought was a baggie of narcotics from Stogner's hand. During the struggle, Stogner inserted the contents of his hand into his mouth.

"Spit it out," the deputy yells then wrestled Stogner to the ground. The man fiercely resisted being handcuffed and tried to crawl towards the highway with the deputy on his back.

In the video, two more officers arrive. Stogner is cuffed with the baggie still in his mouth. One of officers realizes Stogner is having trouble breathing. Stogner later died on the interstate pavement, but it's not yet clear why.

"Adam got his butt beat," said Peter John, the Stogner family's attorney. "Cause he's all bruised up and dead." John pointed out that at no point did Stogner attempt to hit the officer.

Livingston Parish Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Ard says the deputy acted appropriately. He said Stogner allegedly was impaired and resisted arrest.

A cause of death has not been released by the parish coroner.

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