Las Vegas Man Dies After Being Tasered by Metro Police

A Las Vegas man who was tasered by police died while in custody Saturday morning. Anthony Jones, 44, fled from police after a routine traffic stop. As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Metro police officers on the scene claim that Jones aggressively resisted arrest after they caught up with him and that he was tasered "several times."

After being taken into custody, he was found to be in medical distress and was later pronounced dead at the Valley Hospital Medical Center. How many times Jones was hit with the Taser has not been made known. The two officers involved in the confrontation have been placed on routine administrative paid leave.

Jones had a long history of arrests and convictions and had been released from prison on parole in June 2010. However, Jones' father believed his son was trying to turn his life around and that he had no reason to run. At the time of his death, Jones was employed as a computer parts salesman and had recently received a promotion.

The use of Tasers by police officers is a controversial subject. Law enforcement personnel consider the Taser a "non-lethal weapon" that is useful in subduing violent subjects, but as many as 351 people have died (as reported by Amnesty International) as a result of receiving the 50,000 volts of electricity that a Taser delivers. "Non-lethal," as defined by the U.S. Department of Defense, means that the weapon is meant to incapacitate, but not kill, the victim.

However, the manufacturer of the weapon acknowledges that high voltages may impair breathing or cause cardiac arrhythmia, and subjects who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or have certain medical conditions may have a significantly higher risk of death from the weapon's effect. Police have no way of knowing about a person's drug use or medical history, so all subjects should be considered "high risk."

The potential for abuse of the Taser is unquestionable. Amnesty International and other civil liberties organizations maintain that the use of Tasers is inhumane and that a moratorium should be put on their use by law enforcement authorities until further studies can be done to determine a way that the Taser can be used safely.