A man has died
after he was tasered twice in Chicago Police custody, authorities
confirmed.
Officers said
38-year-old Philip Coleman was arrested Wednesday night in the West Pullman
neighborhood for allegedly beating his 69-year-old mother. Coleman became
combative with officers during his arrest, police said, at one point spitting
blood into the faces of an officer and a sergeant.
After battling
with officers several more times, police said he struggled while being
transported to court, and officers Tasered him at the Calumet Area lockup to
subdue him.
Coleman was sent
for treatment Thursday to Roseland Hospital where police said he became
physically aggressive with hospital staff and officers. Police said in a
statement that "reasonable force was employed, including a taser deployment, to
gain control" of the man. NBC Chicago
Mark Bowen, 48,
and other neighbors said when police arrived at the house Wednesday, they
pleaded with authorities to take Philip Coleman to a nearby hospital and not to
jail. dnainfo.com "I was trying to
get him to calm down," Bowen said. Bowen said he told Coleman, "Philip, it's OK.
Let them help you." dnainfo.com "He wouldn't
hurt a fly," said Bowen, who has known Coleman they were kids.
dnainfo.com Sources said
Coleman was a regular volunteer for Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition. A
University of Chicago graduate, Coleman was listed as Director of Hospice
Education for Rainbow/PUSH in online documents from 2003 to 2008, but the
organization could not be reached for comment. dnainfo.com The man's
father, Percy Coleman told several news outlets that his son had never been in
trouble. Huffington Post Neighbors were
also shocked by Coleman's actions, remembering him as a polite, quiet man.
Chicago Tribune
"From what I see, he'd just come visit his mama and
leave," Yolanda Cole said. "It was real out of character for him." Chicago
Tribune
Cecelia Spearman, an elderly neighbor, learned of Coleman's death
from a reporter. "I just can't imagine him being dead," she said. "He was always
friendly to me. He was in a crib when I came" to the neighborhood in 1974.
Chicago Tribune
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