Mason police have called a news conference for 2 p.m. to discuss an incident Sunday in which a man died after officers used a Taser on him during a confrontation outside a Speedway gas station.
The incident occurred outside the Speedway gas station on the corner of Tylersville Road and U.S. 42.
Mason police identified the man as Douglas Boucher, 39, of Mason. Boucher was pronounced dead at West Chester Medical Center shortly after the 11:15 p.m. incident.
A Mason police officer suffered a head injury in the incident and was taken to Bethesda North Hospital. The officer, whose name was not released, was treated and released.
Police said that officers were inside the Speedway getting a drink Sunday when Boucher arrived. A worker asked police to talk to him because he had caused trouble there.
Officers ordered Boucher out of the store, according to Mason police. Once he was outside the store, Boucher became combative with officers and hit one officer in the head, prompting officers to use the Taser on him, police said.
Boucher stopped breathing shortly after the Taser was used. Police gave him CPR and a Mason EMS squad rushed him to West Chester Medical Center, but he could not be revived.
Reached at their home in Marion, Ind., Boucher’s parents declined comment, saying they were still trying to learn all the details. “ I don’t even know what happened yet,” said Ernest Boucher, 68. “I know what they say, but I don’t know what happened.”
Douglas Boucher and his ex-wife, Sheryl Olszewski, divorced in 2005 but remained amicable. They have an 8-year-old daughter, Kathryn, who still lives in Mason with Sheryl Olszewski and her husband, Michael Olszewski.
The couple gently broke the news of her father’s death to the girl on Monday morning.
“Our daughter was his light and inspiration and they enjoyed their visits tremendously. Today is a sad day for her,'' according to a statement by Sheryl Olszewski.
She said her late husband as a musician who played bass for a couple of local bands. “He was a very passionate person – passionate about his daughter, his music and living life fully,” the statement reads.
Mason officers, who all carry X26 Tasers, have never had problems with the stun gun since they began using them in spring 2007, the department said.
Police increasingly are using Taser stun guns and other kinds of non-lethal weapons to subdue people. Taser stun guns use a replaceable cartridge containing compressed nitrogen to deploy two small probes that are attached to the gun. The devices transmit controlled pulses of electricity that are designed to incapacitate a person without affecting the heart and other vital organs.
Deaths after Taser use have stirred debate over police using electric-shock devices to subdue combative people.
The National Institute of Justice issued a June 2008 report saying that a study launched in 2006 showed use of shock devices is not risk-free, but "exposure is safe in the vast majority of cases."
Last year, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office ruled a shock from a Taser played a role in the death of a 24-year-old Miami University graduate in an encounter with Oxford police.
Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper concluded the officer did not use excessive force or violate police procedures in subduing Kevin Piskura, 24, of Chicago.
Hamilton County Coroner O’dell Owens ruled three factors caused Piskura’s death: A heart rhythm problem, acute alcohol intoxication and recent physical exertion, and the application of the Taser.
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