Police: Man falls, dies after being stunned by officer's Taser

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County police have confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that an officer stunned a man with a Taser who then fell to his death.  
 
Now police have turned over the investigation to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 
 
Police told Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes that the DeKalb police robbery unit was patrolling the area around Flat Shoals Road, and they pulled the suspect over who then ran.
 
"When I got out the car, I hit record and that's where it starts, you see him start running," said Lewis Wright, who shot cellphone video that shows a man running from police.
 
Lewis told Fernandes that he saw the whole thing.
 
"I saw them pull the guy over. I guess they told him to get out the car so he got out the car, and all I know I saw him run," Lewis said.
 
Police say the suspect ran from the passenger side of that car, ran by a Family Dollar, then tried to climb a brick wall.
 
Police told Fernandes they shocked the man with a Taser while he was on the wall, and that's when he fell and died.
 
"He had the Taser still attached to him. He was handcuffed, but he was unconscious," witness Natosha Davis said.
 
A 12-year-old boy saw the suspect fall. His mother gave permission to speak with Channel 2 Action News, but asked not to identify him.
 
"He fell and hit his head and then after that, this girl named Sheniya, her mother tried to see if he was still breathing," the boy told Fernandes.
 
The mother said she tried to perform CPR, but police wouldn't let her.
 
"So I feel like if someone was here to perform CPR, they should allow her to do that," Davis said.
 
DeKalb Police Chief and Director of Public Safety Cedric Alexander was at the scene speaking with investigators.
 
The GBI has now picked up the case, because the suspect died.
 
Wright told Fernandes you just don't run from police.
 
"I told him to stop, you know? Because a lot of stuff going on and I didn't want nothing to happen to him. He kept on running," Wright said.
 
Fernandes asked police if the suspect was armed and they said no.
 
However, the driver of the car the suspect ran from did have a weapon, according to police.

WSBTV