3 CLEARED IN DEATH OF TASERED SUSPECT

The state attorney rules that the Clearwater officers used reasonable
force in subduing the 270-pound man who died of asphyxiation.

CLEARWATER - Three city police officers acted properly when they
Tasered and held down a combative man who subsequently died of
asphyxiation, State Attorney Bernie McCabe ruled on Monday.

Thomas C. Tipton, 34, a staffing firm manager, went limp after
struggling with police on April 5 at the Tropic Isle Motel on north
Clearwater Beach. The Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death a
homicide, with cocaine and alcohol listed as "contributory" conditions.

McCabe, however, determined that Tipton died in an excusable homicide
at the hands of officers who used force that was "reasonable,
necessary and justified."

"It was Tipton alone who escalated the encounter from a situation in
which the police sought to simply send him home in a cab to a
prolonged, violent fight," McCabe wrote in a letter dated Monday.
"The officers . . . consistently used the least amount of force available."

Medical examiners concluded Tipton's asphyxiation resulted from his
being face down on a patio as the officers compressed his chest,
McCabe wrote. He added that the alcohol in his system may have
hastened the asphyxia, a lack of oxygen usually caused by an
interruption of breathing that leads to unconsciousness.

Toxicology tests showed Tipton had marijuana and cocaine in his
system while his blood-alcohol level was 0.227 percent, more than
twice the level at which Florida law presumes a person to be impaired.

Christopher P. Jayson, who is representing Tipton's family, said
police and prosecutors were trying to cast Tipton in an unfavorable
light to justify his death.

"Last time I checked, being intoxicated wasn't a capital offense in
the state of Florida," Jayson said. "The mere fact he was intoxicated
doesn't justify the use of deadly force."

Jayson said they were conducting their own investigation and had
found evidence that disputes the quantity of drugs in Tipton's system
at the time. Some eyewitnesses have also challenged officials'
account of Tipton's behavior, Jayson said, without elaborating.

Last week, a Clearwater Police Department review board ruled that the
Officers Larry Harbert, David Higgins and Sgt. Joe TenBieg had
followed all policies and procedures when restraining Tipton.

"Clearly, the state attorney's investigation was consistent with that
of the Clearwater Police Department," Clearwater police spokesman
Wayne Shelor said.

According to McCabe and Clearwater police, this is what happened on
the day Tipton died:

He and several male employees of Maxim Staffing Solutions took a
limousine from Tampa to Clearwater Beach and spent most of the
afternoon and evening at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill, where they met a
group of nurses.

Tipton picked up three bar tabs: $185, plus tip, at 3:45 p.m.; $559,
plus tip, at 9:07 p.m.; and $68, plus tip, at 10:52 p.m.

At 11 p.m., his demeanor suddenly changed. He said he didn't want to
go to another bar because he might get in a fight.

Tipton left the group and, during the next half hour before his
encounter with police, authorities suspect he used marijuana and cocaine.

At 11:30 p.m., Tipton walked into the courtyard of the Tropic Isle
Motel, not far from the Frenchy's restaurant. He knocked over several
patio chairs and broke jalousie windows, prompting the motel manager
and a guest to call 911.

Harbert arrived first, finding Tipton in the roots of a banyan tree.
Higgins then pulled up and the officers coaxed Tipton out from the tree.

They determined he was very intoxicated, and that Tipton thought he
was in Tampa. They decided to call a cab.

Then Tipton became upset, throwing a patio table at Harbert, and
returned behind the banyan tree.

TenBieg arrived and told Tipton he would be Tasered if he didn't come
out. Harbert deployed the Taser, which seemed to have little effect.
It was deployed again and this time the officers got his hands in cuffs.

After complying for a time, Tipton suddenly became enraged, kicking
and yelling at the officers.

They eventually were able to take down Tipton, who weighed 270
pounds. They held him face-down, but Tipton continued to resist, at
times resting before fighting again.

Then Tipton went limp.

Paramedics, who already were on the scene after responding to a call,
tried to resuscitate Tipton with a defibrillator, but its battery was
dead. So was the backup.

When a third battery was retrieved from the nearby firehouse, the
heart monitor showed no activity.

Tipton was transported to Morton Plant Hospital and pronounced dead
at 12:28 a.m.

The Pinellas County medical director is investigating the paramedics'
treatment of Tipton, but, so far, has issued no findings.