By BETH VELLIQUETTE
Copyright 2006 The Durham Herald Co.
PITTSBORO, N.C.- A man who led Chatham sheriff’s deputies on a police chase and then died shortly after they tasered and handcuffed him last July died of cocaine poisoning, according to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office.
Toxicology tests showed a very high concentration of cocaine in the body of Shannon Lane Johnson, 37, of 939 Edwards Hill Church Road, Siler City, the autopsy report said. “Death is due to cocaine poisoning,” the report states.
Law enforcement officers first encountered Johnson acting erratically in the traffic circle around the courthouse in the center of Pittsboro on Sunday about 5 a.m. on July 23. On the “narrative summary of circumstances surrounding death,” Marion Griffin, a physician in Randolph County, wrote that Johnson “was stopping cars telling people he was the devil and otherwise appearing wild and probably dangerous.”
When officers tried to confront him, he ran and jumped in a truck and drove west on U.S. 64 heading toward Siler City, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Chatham deputies gave chase, and according to the N.C. Highway Patrol, which investigated the ensuing accident, Johnson drove more than 90 mph during the 40-mile chase that went into Randolph County.
Johnson drove over “stop sticks,” spiked material that officers throw or lay across the road to flatten tires, but he kept on driving for about 18 more miles. Eventually he ran off the side of the road in Randolph County and into a ditch. Sheriff’s deputies reported he kicked out the driver’s side window, got out of the truck and tried to get away.
Resisting arrest
As the deputies tried to take control of Johnson, he was swinging at them and resisting arrest. A deputy used a taser on him several times, said Major Gary Blankenship of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were able to handcuff and restrain Johnson’s legs, but he still continued to struggle, Blankenship said. About 20 minutes later, Johnson began having trouble breathing, according to reports. Paramedics were already at the scene to check him for injuries from the accident, and they began to work on him but were never able to start his heart again.
Thomas Clark, an associate chief medical examiner, wrote there was evidence of injury from the wreck, including large abrasions on both cheeks and Johnson’s chin. His upper lip was bruised, and both wrists and ankles had bands of bruising consistent with the history of being restrained.
There was a 3/8-inch abrasion that may have been from the taser electrode, Clark wrote. However, Johnson’s body and head did not show any injuries or disease that may have caused his death, the report said.