(Trends Wide) — The New York attorney general’s office is investigating an incident in which a man died weeks after he caught fire when police shot him with a Taser while covered in hand sanitizer, new videos released Friday by the attorney’s office show. general.
In the first of two videos dated October 30, 2021, which were posted without audio, a man identified as Jason Jones, 29, is seen interacting with two police officers in the lobby of the Catskill Police Department in the Greene County, New York.
Jones appears to be agitated in his interactions with officers, at one point being seen removing his sweater and tearing at the shirt he was wearing as he paced the lobby and tried to open a door, the video shows. More than halfway through the first video, a third agent enters the lobby and the four men are seen talking together as Jones continues to pace the lobby shirtless.
In the second video, Jones is seen spraying what appears to be hand sanitizer on his shirtless head and body. Jones then walks off-screen, at which point one of the officers is seen taking aim at him and then uses his stun gun. Jones catches fire and then falls to the ground as all the agents file out of the lobby, leaving Jones alone in the room and on fire.
Nearly 14 seconds later, one of the cops returns to help Jones, just after Jones’s hair caught fire. The stretcher arrives about 15 minutes later, according to the video, and Jones is then seen outside the lobby.
Jones spent 45 days in the intensive care ward of a Syracuse hospital before he died on Dec. 15, 2021, from his injuries, his attorney Kevin Luibrand told Trends Wide on Friday night.
Trends Wide has reached out to the Catskill Police Department and Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione for comment.
Jones went to station after incident, attorney says
Jones was drinking at a bar a half-block from the police station before the incident, according to Luibrand. Things had gotten a little rough while Jones was at the bar and the police asked him to leave.
“Jason didn’t like the way the officers handled the situation at the bar, so he went to the police station to talk about it,” Luibrand explained.
“Jason was clearly having an emotional problem when he was in the lobby of the police station,” Luibrand said. “He wasn’t hurting anyone or threatening anyone.”
Cops knew Jones because it’s a small town, Luibrand said. Jones was a star athlete at his high school in the Catskills and sectional champion in the shot put and discus, he said.
“He was a well-respected guy and he came from a working-class family,” Luibrand said, adding that he was working at a local store where he helped sell and deliver outdoor event tents at the time of the incident.
The most effective hand sanitizers used to prevent the spread of germs and viruses contain ethyl alcohol, a highly flammable liquid that “easily evaporates at room temperature into a flammable vapor,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. from USA
Although the CDC says the likelihood of the hand sanitizer igniting is low, the electric stunner used by the Catskill police officer likely ignited the hand sanitizer solution Jones put on his head and body, igniting fire to his body.
The Office of Special Investigations (OSI) is conducting an investigation, according to a statement from the office of Attorney General Letitia James. The OSI investigates all cases in which a police officer could cause the death of a person. The attorney general’s office says it released the video to be transparent with the public.
(Trends Wide) — The New York attorney general’s office is investigating an incident in which a man died weeks after he caught fire when police shot him with a Taser while covered in hand sanitizer, new videos released Friday by the attorney’s office show. general.
In the first of two videos dated October 30, 2021, which were posted without audio, a man identified as Jason Jones, 29, is seen interacting with two police officers in the lobby of the Catskill Police Department in the Greene County, New York.
Jones appears to be agitated in his interactions with officers, at one point being seen removing his sweater and tearing at the shirt he was wearing as he paced the lobby and tried to open a door, the video shows. More than halfway through the first video, a third agent enters the lobby and the four men are seen talking together as Jones continues to pace the lobby shirtless.
In the second video, Jones is seen spraying what appears to be hand sanitizer on his shirtless head and body. Jones then walks off-screen, at which point one of the officers is seen taking aim at him and then uses his stun gun. Jones catches fire and then falls to the ground as all the agents file out of the lobby, leaving Jones alone in the room and on fire.
Nearly 14 seconds later, one of the cops returns to help Jones, just after Jones’s hair caught fire. The stretcher arrives about 15 minutes later, according to the video, and Jones is then seen outside the lobby.
Jones spent 45 days in the intensive care ward of a Syracuse hospital before he died on Dec. 15, 2021, from his injuries, his attorney Kevin Luibrand told Trends Wide on Friday night.
Trends Wide has reached out to the Catskill Police Department and Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione for comment.
Jones went to station after incident, attorney says
Jones was drinking at a bar a half-block from the police station before the incident, according to Luibrand. Things had gotten a little rough while Jones was at the bar and the police asked him to leave.
“Jason didn’t like the way the officers handled the situation at the bar, so he went to the police station to talk about it,” Luibrand explained.
“Jason was clearly having an emotional problem when he was in the lobby of the police station,” Luibrand said. “He wasn’t hurting anyone or threatening anyone.”
Cops knew Jones because it’s a small town, Luibrand said. Jones was a star athlete at his high school in the Catskills and sectional champion in the shot put and discus, he said.
“He was a well-respected guy and he came from a working-class family,” Luibrand said, adding that he was working at a local store where he helped sell and deliver outdoor event tents at the time of the incident.
The most effective hand sanitizers used to prevent the spread of germs and viruses contain ethyl alcohol, a highly flammable liquid that “easily evaporates at room temperature into a flammable vapor,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. from USA
Although the CDC says the likelihood of the hand sanitizer igniting is low, the electric stunner used by the Catskill police officer likely ignited the hand sanitizer solution Jones put on his head and body, igniting fire to his body.
The Office of Special Investigations (OSI) is conducting an investigation, according to a statement from the office of Attorney General Letitia James. The OSI investigates all cases in which a police officer could cause the death of a person. The attorney general’s office says it released the video to be transparent with the public.