Brockton Man Dies After Being Tasered By Fall River Police

FALL RIVER (CBS) -- A Brockton man subdued by police officers with a stun gun on Monday went into cardiac arrest and died, Fall River Police said Tuesday.

The Bristol County District Attorney's office identified the man Tuesday as Scott Macomber.

Police said the incident happened on Mount Hope Avenue Monday afternoon, when they arrived at an apartment building to serve arrest warrants on 37-year-old Lisa Mc Nally, who lived in the home.

They said Macomber and a second woman interfered with the arrest. Police said they took McNally into custody, but continued to struggle with Macomber.

"I don't think he should've gotten involved totally," neighbor George Giguere said. "He should have stayed out of it and let the courts handle it the way it should be."

According to police, one of the officers used his taser on Macomber's buttocks, and he was subdued and handcuffed. The Bristol County DA's office said he was placed under arrest for assault and battery of a police officer, resisting arrest, and interfering with a police officer, and then walked to a cruiser.

"He seemed fine as he was being led to the cruiser ,"said a neighbor, April Alves. "He was talking a little, and walking normally."

The DA's office said that, while Fall River Rescue was en route in accordance with Fall River Police Department policy after anyone is tased, Macomber went into medical distress in the cruiser. Police said Macomber went into cardiac arrest.

Macomber was taken to St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, where the DA's office said he was pronounced dead at 1:20 p.m.

The taser, police said, was not used in the traditional method, in which prongs are deployed, but was instead used in "drive stun" mode, in which it is held against the target.

According to a Washington Post article published last November, Taser International, the company that produces the Taser stun gun, has issued product warnings to police departments about the technique of drive-stunning. In 2013, the company warned that "Drive-stun use may not be effective on emotionally disturbed persons or others who may not respond to pain due to a mind-body disconnect," and said officers should "Avoid using repeated drive-stuns on such individuals if compliance is not achieved."

The Bristol County District Attorney's Office is investigating, and will conduct an autopsy Wednesday. Mass. State Police are also investigating.