December 15, 2009 11:52 AM

Gay Porn Star Andrew Grande Dies After Trying to Swallow Pot, and Getting Tasered Didn't Help

By
Carlin DeGuerin Miller
Topics
Daily Blotter
(TwitPic)
(TwitPic)
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (CBS/AP) In a disturbance call that went terribly wrong, gay porn star Andrew Grande lost his life for a bag of marijuana. And it was all caught on tape.

Photo: Twitpic of Andrew Grande smoking marijuana, according to his own caption.

A camera crew from Zoo Productions, working for truTV, was on a ride-along with Panama Beach police when they responded to a physical disturbance call at the Executive Inn on Front Beach Road Friday Dec. 11.

When investigators arrived, 22-year-old Crystal Amber Cronnon told them that Grande, who used the stage name Dustin Michaels, had attacked her, according to the News Herald.

Photo: Andrew Grande from his Twitpic account.

Police say they tried to arrest Grande but he resisted and during the struggle he put something in his mouth and attempted to swallow it. Officers yelled at him to spit it out. One of them shouted, "He's choking," according to the paper.

In the chaos, Grande briefly broke free of the officers and was tasered. He pulled the Taser prongs out of his body, fell to the ground, and put his hand in his mouth trying to vomit, the paper reported.

Officers attempted to do the Heimlich but couldn't dislodge the object.

Responding paramedics were able to pull the bag of marijuana from his throat and transport him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The woman who made the complaint, Crystal Amber Cronnon, disappeared after Grande was put in the ambulance but police had her driver's license, according to The News Herald.

One of the tapes from the incident includes audio but no video of Cronnon telling the responding officers, Sgt. Billy Byrd, that Grande "pushed me down when I got out of my car," but continues "I'm not about getting anyone arrested."

The tape then cuts to a later shot of Byrd attempting to give Grande the Heimlich but he is unsuccessful. After the emergency medical technicians arrive and start to treat Grande, Byrd does an interview with the truTV crew. Byrd says he and the other deputies were trying to reach into Grande's mouth to remove the object.

"We was(sic) trying to pull whatever he had in his mouth back out of his mouth," Byrd says. "Obviously, he was resisting and trying to prevent us from doing that, trying to steer away, and at that time he was tased."

In the wake of this incident, the sheriff's office says it has no plans to change the policy that allows reporters and other civilians to ride along with deputies, officials said. The same truTV crew that caught Grande's death on video went out again with other deputies Sunday night, officials said.


Add a Comment
by jeffleo April 10, 2010 12:57 AM EDT
I was really so much affected by the video- but after realizing that you do no swallow your pot- that is a crazee mentality. I think it was really meant to b.
Any stoner I know would never even think of stuffing the weed in yer mouth...



















he looks really scared while he is dying but why did he do such a dumb **** thing- he said in his twitter lots of weird timeline things
Reply to this comment
by gfrison March 12, 2010 4:04 PM EST
Memorial for Andrew Grande

http://lifestrand.net/andrew_grande
Reply to this comment
by jessix1 March 10, 2010 10:55 AM EST
In this video the cops act surprisingly concerned and helpful. All are trying hard to help the man in custody.

Two things I don't understand:
(1) The Heimlich maneuver appears to be done properly but the man is still unable to breath

(2) EMS came quickly; The man was taken to a hospital in a timely manner. Why were they unable to revive him?

The results of an autospy may show he died of heart failure from the short-circuiting of his systems due to the use of the taser and not from suspected suffocation. He's a young man in great physical shape. There may be lesser known effects of tasering that we are not aware of that can be responsible for his death.

Too many tasering cases end in the death of the "suspect". ONE death from tasering is too many, but there have been many such deaths. A taser is not being used instead of a gun to help control a suspect. Tasers are commonly used to quickly control suspects who put up resistence to arrest. Such suspects would not normally be "shot"; it would just take more time to arrest them.

The use of tasers must be subjected to rules similar to those understood for firearms, but not as limiting. These rules would come about sooner if the taser was not claimed to be safer than it is. As of now there are few restrictions on taser use. Cops understand only that a taser makes it much simpler and safer to arrest suspects.

Cops are not doctors or scientests; they cannot be expected to perform an instant evaluation of a suspect's physical profile, especially under confrontational circumstances. It's up to the taser manufacturers and the director of police operations to come up with rules for taser use to keep tasers as useful aids to making arrests.

If this is not done, after more deaths someone will order an evaluation of taser use and the police force risks having this useful tool removed from those they can use everyday to make their jobs easier and safer.
Reply to this comment
by kaykay25 January 3, 2010 10:25 AM EST
i agree that he should've just taken the possession charge. i think it sucks what happened. i mean i can see why he tried to swallow it. he panicked. the video is horrible. you can obviously see that he is struggling. poor baby. i feel terrible for him and his family. if u want to see the video here is the link, but i do want to warn you that it is rather graphic. <object width="448" height="374"><param name="movie" value="http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhHjEiYa4E1EJ8Qa0R"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhHjEiYa4E1EJ8Qa0R" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" width="448" height="374"></embed></object>
Reply to this comment
by Adews01 December 16, 2009 5:45 PM EST
if you watch the video that cops do the heimlich WRONG and they never try to pull anything out of his mouth until AFTER they tase him and he signals that he's choking. I personally think his family should start a lawsuit b/c there were 3 cops...they did not have to tase him -- they could have easily tackled him knowing he had already put something in his mouth!!!
Reply to this comment
by sharoncalla December 16, 2009 12:18 AM EST
Grande should of owned up to "guilty" of possession and co-operated with police, better a few days in jail, than "dead". If you smoke pot, learn from this man's mistake, it could save your life.
Reply to this comment
by KHLady7 December 15, 2009 4:50 PM EST
The first ever death from pot hahahah..except it was the bags fault. No, that's terrible..but it wouldn't have happened if pot was legalized....
Reply to this comment
by bobnjersey December 15, 2009 1:39 PM EST
[Responding paramedics were able to pull the bag of marijuana from his throat and transport him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. ]

just goes to show that drugs lead to porn ... and porn leads to death.
Reply to this comment
by formrusmcsgt December 15, 2009 9:06 PM EST
Are you for real?
.
Latest CBS News Headlines Popular CBS News Stories
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News

Follow Crimesider

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
48 Hours New iPad app A perfect companion to TV's most popular true-crime series.
CBS News on Facebook
  • Building You a Better Morning

  • CBS This Morning

    "CBS This Morning," anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill, airs weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and at the same time in other time zones.
    Learn more...