TASER EYED IN DEATH

Glendale Police Chief Denies That Shock Caused Man To Die

GLENDALE - A 37-year-old man died Monday after a police officer zapped him
with a Taser gun to control what a coroner is calling a drug-induced frenzy.

Glenn Richard Leyba was screaming, flailing and suffering seizure-like
symptoms when police arrived at a condominium where he was staying at 4866
E. Kentucky Ave.

When Leyba refused medical treatment and resisted police, a female officer
used an M26 Taser to subdue him. The Taser fires needle-like probes up to
21 feet. Wires connected to the probes deliver a 26-watt charge, which
causes a suspect's muscles to contract and lock up for five seconds. Leyba,
shocked about 4:45 p.m., was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.

Arapahoe County Coroner Michael Dobersen is awaiting toxicology tests
before making a final ruling, but he told police Tuesday he believes Leyba
had a heart attack, brought on by drug-related agitation and delirium.

"He was in a bad situation when we got there," Glendale Police Chief Victor
Ross said. "The Taser applications had nothing to do with his death."

Leyba, who had a history of arrests and convictions on charges including
forgery, theft and disturbing the peace, had track marks consistent with
intravenous drug use on his arm, Ross said. It was unclear Tuesday what
type of drugs he may have ingested.

The chief called the Taser gun "an extremely valuable tool" for law
enforcement and pledged to continue his department's use of the less-
lethal weapon.

Glendale police have six Taser guns, which officers are encouraged to use
when appropriate. The guns, purchased in August, have been fired three
times, Ross said.

But Monday's death - the second of its kind in Colorado - brings new
scrutiny to a tool that is becoming a growing part of the arsenal for cops
on the street.

The human rights group Amnesty International has called for a moratorium on
law enforcement use of Tasers until there can be more medical testing.

"No one can sit there and say definitively that the Taser didn't trigger
something that caused this person to die," said Gerald Le Melle, Amnesty
International's deputy executive director. "This weapon has never been
tested by an independent scientific body. You are playing with people's lives."

Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser International, which manufactures the
weapon, said the weapon is a low-risk alternative to deadly force.

Tasers are used by 3,000 police departments in the world, including 100 in
Colorado. Police in Denver, Aurora, Westminster and Fort Collins are among
the agencies in the state that are committed to using the new technology in
hopes of reducing fatal police shootings.

Tuttle said the weapon has been fired thousands of times since 1999, when
it went on the market, and has been involved in 26 deaths worldwide. The
autopsies in those cases showed other causes of death, according to the
company.

"We've never had the Taser technology directly attributed to any death, and
it's never been listed as a contributing factor. It's a very safe product,"
Tuttle said.

The company has tested the weapon on laboratory animals who have been given
drugs and found no signs of dangerous heart activity, he said.

The first Taser fatality in Colorado occurred in May 2002 in Pueblo.

Richard Baralla, 36, died after police used a Taser to prevent him from
jumping in front of traffic.

An initial autopsy by the Pueblo County coroner was inconclusive. Dobersen,
called in later by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, determined Baralla
died from a heart attack, likely caused by exertion. No drugs were found in
his system.

Authorities said Leyba had been staying with friends at the Cedar Pointe
Condominiums.

The woman who called 911 told dispatchers that Leyba was "going crazy,"
according to a tape of a conversation with dispatchers released by police.

The woman asked dispatchers to send an ambulance, saying, "Something is
wrong with this guy."

The 18th Judicial District's Critical Incident Team is investigating the
death. The officer, who has been with the department for three years and is
"in good standing," was placed on paid administrative leave, Ross said. The
chief did not release her name.