Man dies at hospital after Monaca police use stun gun
MONACA, Pa. (KDKA) -- A man who Monaca police used a stun gun on died after he went into cardiac arrest.
Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier said Monaca police confronted a man who was allegedly damaging homes and cars on Front Street early Saturday morning.
Lozier said police used a drive stun gun on the man, identified as Keenan Anderson. Police handcuffed him and put him on an ambulance gurney to be taken to the hospital for an evaluation and possible mental health admission.
After police left, Lozier said the ambulance crew reported that Anderson was suffering a medical emergency and began CPR. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Monaca police have turned the investigation over to Pennsylvania State Police.
State police released few details but said the man went into cardiac arrest and was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to Lozier, an autopsy performed on Anderson revealed no sign of trauma. The forensic examination usually takes about six to eight weeks, the district attorney said.
A witness said she woke up to Anderson yelling, "Help me, they're trying to kill me, help me, call the cops." She briefly looked outside, saw the man and called 911.
She said Anderson was stumbling down the street and he was trying to get into vehicles. She also saw him punch out the windows of a neighbor's house.
When officers arrived, she heard them tell Anderson to put his hands up and turn around, but Anderson repeated the same words -- "help me" and "they're trying to kill me."
At one point, she said she heard an officer tell Anderson to put a knife down but Anderson wasn't listening and she then heard what sounded like a taser two to three times and then saw Anderson drop to the ground.
She said he was motionless on the ground for about five minutes until the ambulance arrived. The last she saw him, he was yelling while inside the vehicle.
The woman said she later learned Anderson went through multiple vehicles on the block including her fiancee's truck and threw belongings inside them on the road.
The officers involved are off duty for three days and then will be interviewed by state police.
