Pubdate: Wed, 30 Nov 2005
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Chad Skelton

TASER NECESSARY TO SAFELY RESTRAIN MAN, POLICE OFFICER SAYS

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver police officer who discharged an electronic 
stun weapon at 25-year-old Roman Andreichikov moments before he died 
told a coroner's inquest Tuesday he doesn't think he did anything wrong.

"In retrospect, can you think of anything in that situation that you 
would have done differently?" asked coroner's counsel John Bethell.

"Given what we had, given the resources and the situation -- no," 
replied Const. Darren Hall.

Andreichikov had been on a five-day crack binge and had twice tried 
to commit suicide by throwing himself off his fourth-floor balcony 
when his friend, Rahim Hadani, called 911 on May 1, 2004.

Hall and his partner were the first officers on the scene.

On Tuesday, Hall described entering Andreichikov's apartment and from 
where he was standing he could see Hadani in the room but could only 
hear Andreichikov. "What I heard was loud moaning and deep growling," 
said Hall. "There were these loud vocalizations but they didn't make 
any sense."

Thinking he may have to use his Taser -- the brand name for an 
electronic stun weapon --Hall said he unholstered it before he 
stepped around the corner and saw Andreichikov, a muscular body 
builder, sitting on the couch.

"He looked angry to me," said Hall. "He looked ready to explode. . . 
. He was breathing incredibly fast. I could see white foam coming out 
of his mouth."

Hall said he thought there was a good chance Andreichikov was 
suffering from "excited delirium" -- a state of panic often induced 
by heavy drug use -- and needed to be handcuffed and taken to 
hospital as quickly as possible.

Hall said he asked Andreichikov to lie face down, which he did, but 
that Andreichikov then quickly turned over.

He said he again asked Andreichikov to flip over, which he didn't do, 
and Hall decided that he would have to stun him with the Taser to 
safely restrain him.

Hall said he fired the Taser and his partner and two backup officers 
immediately tried to restrain Andreichikov. As Andreichikov fought 
back, said Hall, he pulled the Taser trigger again, giving him 
another five-second electrical shock.

Andreichikov was handcuffed and three officers held him down as he 
yelled and tried to get free. A few moments later, one of the 
officers said Andreichikov wasn't breathing.

Andreichikov posed no immediate threat to himself or the officers, 
Hall confirmed, but said Tasering him was the only safe way to 
handcuff him and get him to hospital.

Phil Rankin, a lawyer representing Andreichikov's family, suggested 
Hall was intent on using his Taser from the moment he entered the 
apartment and didn't consider other, less dangerous, methods of restraint.

"The fact is you decided to Taser Mr. Andreichikov no matter what he 
did," said Rankin.

"That's not true at all," replied Hall.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman