Man dies after LAPD officers use Taser on him in Venice
A man died Tuesday after officers used a Taser on him while trying to arrest him in Venice, LAPD officials said Friday.
The man, identified by the LAPD as Keenan Anderson, was running in the middle of the street and “exhibiting erratic” behavior” at around 3:40 p.m. after a traffic collision at Venice and Lincoln boulevards, according to an LAPD news release. Several people involved in the collision indicated that Anderson had caused it, the release said.
An LAPD officer spoke with Anderson, who was initially cooperative and sat down at the intersection. The officer requested backup for a DUI investigation, according to the release.
The Los Angeles Police Department said the man refused several orders to drop a sharp metal object and moved toward officers.
As additional officers arrived, Anderson suddenly fled, running down the middle of Venice Boulevard, the release said.
Officers chased and caught up to him, then struggled with him for several minutes, using a Taser, their body weight, “firm grips and joint locks,” the release said.
The officers handcuffed Anderson and “hobbled” him at the ankles. Los Angeles Fire Department personnel treated Anderson at the scene “for deployment of the Taser” and he was taken to a hospital in Santa Monica, according to the news release.
At the hospital, Anderson went into cardiac arrest and died. The LAPD did not provide his age.
Anderson’s death, which the LAPD has classified as an in-custody death, is being investigated by the department’s Force Investigation Division.
That same afternoon, LAPD officers shot and killed a man who was armed with a sharp metal object in South Los Angeles, according to the LAPD.
The previous day, officers in Westlake fatally shot a man who the LAPD said was holding a large knife.
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