Jessica Rocha, Staff Writer
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Copyright 2006 The News and Observer
Law enforcement was not responsible for a man who died in custody after a Chatham County deputy used a Taser stun gun to subdue him, the Randolph County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Monday.
On July 23, according to the report, Shannon Lane Johnson led deputies on a high-speed chase across Chatham County, starting in Pittsboro and ending in Randolph County near Asheboro.
Johnson, 37, of 939 Edwards Hill Church Road, Siler City, drove 18 miles after special “stop sticks” flattened one of his tires; he stopped on an embankment only when he lost control of the truck, according to sheriff’s deputies.
He then kicked out the window of his truck and “resisted the attempts of five officers to subdue and handcuff him,” the release says.
That’s when Chatham County Deputy Raymond Morgan used a Taser stun gun on Johnson, but it didn’t appear to work. Officers later did subdue and handcuff Johnson, then noticed he was gasping for air, the report says.
An EMS crew that was on the scene took Johnson to Randolph Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A report by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Johnson died from cocaine poisoning.
According to Randolph County Assistant District Attorney Andrew M. Gregson, deputies acted with reasonable force, “well within North Carolina law governing the use of force to apprehend and arrest suspects.”