Man who died of heart attack in Torremolinos call shop was Tasered by police
His family describe the incident as an 'injustice' and have taken legal action, while police unions defend the 'professional' approach of the officers and the use of the weapon due to the individual's 'highly agitated state'
The 35-year-old man who died of a heart attack on Sunday in a call shop in Torremolinos was Tasered by two devices used by the National Police. According to the version of the police and the shop owner, the deceased had attempted to rob the establishment, which is why the security forces were mobilised to the scene, where they reportedly found him "in an advanced state of agitation". The man's family, however, have said that his intention had not been to rob and that his death is an "injustice".
The incident happened on the evening of 7 December. According to the police, the owner of the establishment had called them, stating that he had locked a perpetrator who had tried to rob him inside the call shop.
Footage posted on social media shows part of the police intervention. It can be seen how the deceased is standing behind the counter of the shop, holding two mobile phones and ignoring police instructions. Police sources state that the man was "throwing objects" at the officers, while "hitting" other items inside.
A rapid deployment patrol of the National Police first arrived at the scene. The police tried to restrain the individual. When their attempts proved unsuccessful, two other police officers were mobilised. According to the same sources, they continued trying to put him in handcuffs while "he was moving, shouting and kicking".
It was then that one of the police reportedly used his Taser on the man's leg, which apparently had no effect on him. The police took the man to the ground, where the struggle continued. The suspect was Tasered twice more by another police officer and then they managed to put him in handcuffs.
According to the police version, the medical emergency service had already been mobilised by that point. They had asked for an ambulance to go to the scene and give the suspect tranquilisers. However, he was no longer responding to stimuli by the time the ambulance arrived.
The man suffered a heart attack and died despite the efforts of both the police and the medical staff. The forensic police and the judicial committee were called to the scene to remove the body, which has been transferred to the institute of legal medicine of Malaga (IML) for an autopsy. The results will determine the cause of the cardiac arrest and shed more light on the case.
The man's family describe what happened as an "injustice". They have already taken legal action against the police.
The deceased's wife insists that his intention was not to steal. "He took a taxi and then his phone went out. As he couldn't pay, he told the taxi driver that he was going to charge it at the call shop," she says.
'He took a taxi and then his phone went out. As he couldn't pay, he told the taxi driver that he was going charge it at the shop'
According to her, her husband asked the shop owner "for a charger that he was going to pay for later". The establishment manager, however, thought that it was a lie and got scared. She calls the actions of the police "disproportionate when he had done nothing".
Most police unions have come out in defence of the officers, highlighting their "professional" approach given "the state of high agitation" of the individual. The provincial secretary of Jupol in Malaga, Enrique Picarzo, told SUR that the police went because they had received a call about "a violent person" who "they had to restrain". According to Picarzo, their professional performance was "brilliant". In addition, he highlighted the difficulty of "taking decisions in two seconds, especially in a heated environment".
Spokesperson for the national executive of the unified police union (Sup) Ana Alarcón defends the use of Tasers when the police cannot restrain an individual using the minimum necessary force. She guarantees that the camera that police officers have attached to their chest always "starts to record" the moment they take out a Taser.
