State police investigating Monaca arrest following the death of suspect
MONACA ― State police are investigating the Saturday morning death of a borough man after a stun gun was used on him by Monaca officers.
According to the official report, the death occurred while police were attempting to take a man, who was later identified as Keenan Anderson, into custody following incidents along Monaca's Front Street around 4:30 a.m. The incident, which involved the use of a police taser during an arrest, is one of several deaths that were caused by sudden shocks from stun guns during police incidents across the region in recent years.
According to a release from Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier, Anderson was damaging homes and cars while "ranting in an apparent mental health or drug event." During the arrest, officers from the Monaca Police Department then "took control" of Anderson by deploying a drive stun gun, Lozier said.
Following this, police said Anderson was placed in handcuffs and taken away in an ambulance for evaluation. After the officers left the ambulance, Lozier said medical personnel within the ambulance reported Anderson began to suffer a medical emergency. Anderson was later pronounced dead at Heritage Valley Hospital in Brighton Township.
Following Anderson's death, the matter was turned over to state police for an outside investigation into the incident per county policy. In a release to media organizations, Lozier said an initial autopsy shows "no signs of trauma" and that forensic data may take several weeks to return from the labs.
Incidents involving police tasers have occurred throughout the region several times in recent years. On March 7, 2022, members of the New Castle Police Department reported a fatal shock from a taser took the life of Albert-Beckworth Thompson, who they said was under the influence of narcotics during his arrest. In October 2021, the Bloomfield area of Pittsburgh saw the death of Jim Rogers due to a taser, which resulted in the discipline of eight officers and the firing of five of those involved.
In a report from the Times in April 2022, representatives for the Monaca Police Department stated their department had updated their training to focus on taser safety during arrests. The department said special attention is given to the use of tasers in incidents where the suspect may be at risk from the sudden shock, such as when under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and that those factors are to be weighed against public and officers' safety.
More on stun guns: Law enforcement, police accountability groups, discuss pros and cons of using Tasers
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: State police investigating death of man stunned by Monaca police
