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Man police subdued with Taser dies four days later
Ronald Petruney, 49, of 1090 Jefferson Ave., was pronounced dead at Washington Hospital's critical care unit at 6:58 a.m. Saturday. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco said the cause and manner of Petruney's death were awaiting a full forensic autopsy.
Washington police Chief James R. Blyth said the two officers involved, whom he said would not be identified at this time, remain on duty.
"All witnesses told us that it was done by the book," Blyth said.
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Petruney then stood up, disoriented, and attempted to walk into traffic, police said. Petruney refused orders to sit down and charged the officer, biting him and swinging his arms when the two began to struggle.
Another officer arrived on the scene. Petruney was first shot in the legs with two Taser wires. The second officer then applied his Taser directly to Petruney's torso, police said.
"He was still fighting with the officers for another three or four minutes after he was hit," Blyth said Saturday. "The Taser had no effect on him when he was hit, so they discarded it and went back to hands-on fighting. He kicked one of the officers after he was hit."
When Petruney collapsed, he was attended to by police and ambulance personnel who had been called to the scene before he was transported to Washington Hospital.
Blyth said that all officers carrying a Taser are fully trained in its use per department regulations.
Court records show that Petruney, formerly of Charleroi, had undergone mental health evaluations in the past, including in January 2008 after he allegedly bit a Washington police officer on the wrist. The officer had reported to a call of a fight on North College Street involving Petruney, who was charged with disorderly conduct.
He also was ordered to undergo evaluations after threatening a Charleroi police officer and spraying a 15-year-old boy with pepper spray. He also spent time in Washington County Jail after pleading guilty to hitting a 15-year-old girl.
Related articles:
Man who was hit with Taser dies
Police hit man with Taser
Washington police say proper procedures used in Taser incident
Washington police to hold news conference
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Ronald Petruney Taser Death : 11/22/2009
Ronald was in fact atleast borderline metally retarded and suffered from epileptic seizures. I knew him years ago shortly after his father passed away. If officers are properly trained for taser use and it appeared he had just had a siezure witch affects brain electircal currents. Why would any reasonable person then shoot a couple thousand volts of electricity into the person. Seems common sense that the effect would be outside the scope of what is expected.
Taser : 11/22/2009
I do not think it would be wise for the Washington County Coroner to perform this autopsy. The Coroner most likely knows the officers involved and it could lead to a conflicting situation for everyone. It could also lead to more allegations no matter what the cause of death is determined to be.
Mental Health : 11/22/2009
There was a time when we had places for the mentally ill to receive care, medications, even living arrangements. Now they are on the streets, unmonitored, and being killed by the local police. I know, it happens on a regular basis here in Pensacola, FL. Unfortunate is an understatement.
: 11/22/2009
executed for having a medical condition. USA! USA!
Florida mom : 11/22/2009
I take it you would not mind if the mentally ill was killing your local police? It's not the fault of the police. Yes it is tragic. No it was not murder. Stay in florida !
taser : 11/22/2009
Let me ask u people this what would u have said if the officers had let this man go out in an traffic an get hit,then u would have said y didnt they help him.It seems to me unless your put in that situation u have no idea what u would do,so unless u r keep your opinoin to yourself.
We are lucky we're not planning a cops funeral! : 11/22/2009
Everyone can bash police officers, but until you do the job you don't have a clue. One more minute by himself and the officer this guy attacked probably would have died, it makes you wonder why this guy was even on the street? That would be a good question for his agency that had him as a client! Everyone that is involved is taking this very hard, the last thing a cop wants to do is hurt anyone but we want to go home too.
mh : 11/22/2009
people seem to not recognize the fact that this man was known to washington police as a man with mental health issues that also had seizures...the police knew the man prior to this incident..an autopsy should absolutely be performed because the cops are absolutely at fault in this incident. They knew he had a seizure condition and he should never have been taised so many times.
ALL OFFICERS ARE TRAINED? : 11/22/2009
THE MAKER OF THE TASER SENT OUT A NATIONWIDE WARNING NO TO APPLY THE TASER DIRECTLY TO THE TORSO FOR IT HAS CAUSED DEATH AND THE HEART TO STOP....THE OFFICER SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER
Taser : 11/23/2009
Coroner Warco will be under tremendous pressure to tailor his autopsy to suit one side or the other. The Taser itself must be re-examined. I do not mean to eliminate it. I believe that it has a place in the police arsenal. That place however is just before the use of the gun. This device has killed and will kill. It is not a safe alternative for stopping the action. Since I was not at this incident, I will defer to the police and their investigators. Only they were there and realized the threat at that particular instant. If the coroner does his job, he may have to buck a powerful corporate juggernaut. Does he have the spine? I do not know. My prediction? He will conclude that some obtuse medical condition killed this man leaving the result in complete limbo. Why do an autopsy then? We shall see.
Think of all angles : 11/23/2009
Why not do the same thing I suggested for the Fire Department. Have a combination Police Department. Supplement the full time Police with local volunteers. Then anyone one that likes to bash the police are welcome to come and do their jobs. Look at everyone's brain working now! woops!
taser : 11/23/2009
And children are being tasered when it is killing adults?
Agree with second officer : 11/23/2009
Been there back in the day whan nightsticks and chemical mace were the tools in hand for the policer officer. This mans death as unfortunate as it is could have been preventted had he been recieving proper treatment and medication. You cant make that call in the middle of a encounter.
Fear doesn't give the right to kill : 11/23/2009
It is murder most foul. plain and simple. If this was proper procedure, time to change the procedures. Murderous rogues with tasers. Bring back sanity and take these weapons away from the killer cops..
TASER : 11/23/2009
These police are not trained to recognize mental illness. So many times these people who have mental problems are thrown in a jail cell rather than being taken to the hospital to be evaluated. I know you may disagree but until you are affected with mental illness in your family and experience what they go thru I'm sure you wouldn't want the police tasing your family member.
Rubber? : 11/23/2009
Ever hear of rubber bullets? Taser guns are NOT safe. Electricity and the human nervous system are not to be toyed with.
Police helper : 11/23/2009
Why not do the same thing I suggested for the Fire Department. Have a combination Police Department. Supplement the full time Police with local volunteers. Then anyone one that likes to bash the police are welcome to come and do their jobs. Look at everyone's brain working now!
really? : 11/24/2009
you think that a police officer carries around a gun with rubber bullets in it really? and that you should shoot a person with rubber bullets rather than use a taser to subdue them? Why don't you try both of them and tell me what you'd rather have used on you... Police are regular people that have to make split second decisions that people can judge for days. You don't become the worlds smartest person, with bulletproof skin and wings that make you fly when you become a police officer. Sorry to disapoint everyone.
Need Training : 11/26/2009
The police need to get more REAL training about epilepsy. Police are taught very little about what to do around a siezure. You are disordered for at least 15 min. after a seizure, so that is he hit and bit the officer. Ronald didn't know what he was do.
"All we want are the facts" : 11/29/2009
There should be an investigation anytime an officer uses his firearm or taser regardless of the outcome. Having an investigation (hopefully independent) will serve several purposes. It would show whether officer(s) acted in accordance to policy. It would show whether current policy are proper or need to be change. It would show if officers are receiving the proper training. It would show the public what actually happen instead of depending on hear say. I’m sure the city, police department and the officers involved don’t want to be in this situation, but they are, so they should welcome an investigation to clear the air openly. The citizens of this city, the family involved should remain open minded until the investigation is completed. What happen, what should be done, will be determined by the facts, not by bias opinions on either side of the argument.
you got to be kidding me : 11/29/2009
Actually rubber bullets are used as a less lethal alternative, most commonly used in riot control. Law enforcement agencies have gone to tasers as a way to subdue individuals who my be presenting a threat but without any dangerous weapons, aka unarmed. Previously officers had to deal with this type of individual in a hand to hand type of manner, and we all have seen videos of how that looks. The use of the taser removes officers from this situation to a degree. Relatively a new tool for law enforcement, with officers now actually having to use the taser, the new tool is proving to be not as lethal as a gun, but it’s still lethal to a degree. So law enforcement is still in the predicament how to subdue unarmed individuals presenting a threat, without having to use tools that could be lethal. Going backwards, like taken the taser away will only put officers in harm way unnecessarily, or result in officers using gang force which has in some situation become excessive. So you shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the use of rubber bullets as tool in the police arsenal. I think at the end of the day, officers want to go home without being injured and they also don’t want to have to resort to lethal force when there are non-lethal tactics that they could use.
Seizures-reality : 11/29/2009
The real facts to be questioned here is not the use of tasers in general, but why the officers did not understand that Seizures come with a post-dictal period. For 15-30 minutes post seizure a person is disoriented, unaware of theri surroundings, and often does strange things and emotional and behavioral outbursts. This is caused byt he preceding seizures havoc on the brain. Think about what just happened--the part of your bodyt hat ocntrols every sytem just went through an electriacl nightmare. Had the officers been better trained in this, they would hav eknown how to approach and apeak to him ina way to diffuse the situationt hat would have avoided it, rahte rthen doing so ina confrontatinal way. Then to taser a person who has just had a seizure, and has a known seizure history, is beyond my comprehension. There are other means to subdue a person, and this was simply the one they chose. Training is neccesary across all police agencies, accross the country. I think this case proves that. Police do a very difficult job, lets not make it harder by not giving them the training and knowledge they need by fighting about it.
re: all we want are the facts : 11/30/2009
There is an investigation each and every time a taser is used. Just for the reasons you mention Joe. People do not realize the paperwork that goes with the job. Obviously by the Chief's comments they welcome in independent investigation. The officers involved did not intent to injure the man. They were trying to stop him from running into traffic. That is the point most seem to have forgotten here.
"the point most seem to have forgotten here" : 11/30/2009
Independent would a agency not connected with city or county. Hopefully the city does have policy that requires documentation when they use their weapons. But internal investigation do not always produce the entire truth. An example would be the so called police investigation of remarks made by the former mayor. That internal investigation went the way the city wanted it to. An outside investigation determined the real facts. And your point that most have forgotten, the police were trying to stop hm from running into traffic, well maybe he might have been better off, because the end result is this mentally retarded guy with seizures is DEAD.
The second officer on scene : 11/30/2009
If you really are the second officer on the scene, why are you commenting on this issue in this fashion and not in a public forum? Based on the stupidity of commenting like this I’m going to assume that you’re not the second officer. With some much legality involved in this situation I would hope that the officers involved wouldn’t be dumb enough to comment on a blog. “We are lucky we're not planning a cops funeral”, “one more minute by himself and the officer this guy attacked probably would have died”, really it was that serious. He was bitten, was the attacker Jeffery Dahmer, or Hannibal Lecter? I would hope the officers are taking it hard, and I feel for them, especially if officers felt that this was their only choice. My problem is too many people are too quit to dismiss the situation because of who the person was. I think the real truth is if this happen in some affluent community, to and affluent person there wouldn’t be people just dismissing the incident. Something needs to change, maybe its attitude, maybe its training, maybe its policy, maybe its other types of non-lethal tools. Maybe it wasn’t the intention of the police to kill this guy, but something has to be done because a non-armed mentally challenged person with a seizure disorder is dead. Hopefully something will be done before it happens again.
change : 12/1/2009
yes, something does need to change... somebody needs to do something to take care of these mentally challenged folks. the state is cutting funding that helps them every day. throw them out on the street to run wild and no way to ensure they take the meds they need to keep them stable and safe. then they get to act like this and cause great danger to themselves and others. what would you do if an unstable person were acting aggressive toward you, biting you, striking you, etc.? If you don't want the police to protect you and everyone else, continue acting like idiots and posting stupid remarks. I am thankful that we have the police to do their best to look out for us. the police are only human... they did the best they could. they did their job and did it well. they feel bad enough that the man had a troubled life, now they have to live with his death. get over yourselves, folks.
Mental health and the police : 12/2/2009
Here's the deal, as a professional I can say this. I also happen to be out of state ( from PA) working with training our local officers on Crisis intervention for someone who is suffering from mental health issues...look it up, I bet Washington County, PA gets a Crisis Intervention Specialist to handle these calls now (if they don't already have one). Anyway, this is unfortunate...this happens too many times. The man did not have a weapon and police could have stopped traffic, they do it for everything else. I think it's pure negligence on law enforcement..Believe me, I see it every day. Law Enforcement had a choice...they saw the man get up from a seizure and reported he was diroriented, which is understandable...you don't taze him TWICE..unbelievable....special officers should respond to scenes who are training in dealing with the mentally ill, or the intellectually disabled...this shouldn't have happened
taser : 12/5/2009
we all need a REALITY check!
who : 12/6/2009
the police get a free pass. some people need to be cultured in life then give their opinon
: 12/17/2009
Response of otherwise civilized people: “What is this guy’s problem? We’re doing everything we can. What more could we possibly do? They were flailing all over the place. Besides, I know somebody who had a seizure and they didn’t get murdered for it. All you have to do is merely lie still and not move the next time we come to hurt you’re already half dead, and we won’t kill you, dummy. What’s so hard to understand about that? Anyway, their families should have known better than to try to get help for their loved ones when they saw them turn blue and collapse on the ground – I bet they learned their lesson, huh. Things are a lot better now than they used to be. Nobody hates you people. Well, I gotta go now, I’m monitoring a hearing to make sure that terrorists are being treated with the proper respect and dignity. It is that we as Americans recognize the Natural and inalienable rights of every human being.”
