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Speak Up! Memphis

West Memphis Man Tasered During Arrest, Dies Later in Jail

WEST MEMPHIS, AR - West Memphis police say officers were called to Dodge's Chicken early Thursday, April 24, at 1414 East Broadway Street in West Memphis on a complaint that a man was loitering outside the store. Police say when they arrived, just after midnight, they attempted to arrest Dwayne Chatt, who ran into the store and barricaded himself inside the manager's office.

Police say they got Chatt out of the office and tried to arrest him again. Officers say Chatt was tasered, placed under arrest and taken to jail. He was arrested for loitering, running away from police, burglary, resisting arrest, and battery.

Police say around 2:00 a.m., a guard at the jail found Chatt dead in his cell. The Crittenden County Sheriff's Department is now investigating the case, and Chatt's body has been scheduled for autopsy.

Investigators say three officers were involved in arresting Chatt and they are still working while the case is investigated.

What do you think? It's your turn to Speak Up! Memphis.

Published Thursday, April 24, 2008 4:14 PM by APhillips

Comments

 

East Memphis said:

Tasers are overused but what is the option - a bullet or a baton?
April 24, 2008 7:53 PM
 

kellz20 said:

I THINK SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT THE POLICE IN WEST MEMPHIS. IT IS A SHAME THAT WE HAVE TO LIVE IN A COMMUNITY WHERE POLICE IS CONSTANTLY KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE. IT IS NOT THAT SERIOUS TO KILL SOMEONE EVERYTIME YOU GET A CALL ABOUT A PERSON DOING WRONG. & I THINK THE TASER SHOULD BE USED ONLY ONCE. IF SOMEONE DOESNT DO SOMETHING SOON, WE ALL ARE GOING TO SUFFER.
April 24, 2008 9:36 PM
 

InsuranceMan said:

Please refrain from using the word "Innocent"  This man was robbing the store and then barracated himself inside the managers office.  Police officers are trained to eliminate a problem the best way they know how, and obviously this man was not cooperating with them, so they had to take action.  maybe something should be done about the criminals in West Memphis......
April 24, 2008 9:57 PM
 

Tigress2008 said:

Hey---in a high crime area........you can't blame the Memphis cops..........they want to go home to their families at the end of their shift.   I DON'T blame MPD at all......period!

You absolutely couldn't pay me enough to work the streets of Memphis, or any big city.    
You can't turn your back on any drug addict thug.

Like they say..........."Walk a mile in my shoes!"
April 25, 2008 12:17 AM
 

smithtra said:

 InsuranceMan said:
They never reported that this man was robbing a store, according to News Channel 3, this man had been released from jail, then was walking down the street when a foot chase fron the cops were pursued to him, he ran into a store were he locked himself into the managers office and refused to surrender.  The manager was called to open the door were a confrontation was warranted, and the man was tassled several times.  The officer that spoke on the news stated 2,3, or maybe 4 times. But after he was in the jail he seemed to be obeying. How much frequency can a person body tolerate?
April 25, 2008 10:41 AM
 

East Memphis said:

"InsuranceMan said:
They never reported that this man was robbing a store, according to News Channel 3, this man had been released from jail, then was walking down the street when a foot chase fron the cops were pursued to him, he ran into a store were he locked himself into the managers office and refused to surrender."
__________________________________________________________________

He had been released earlier in the day.  This was a separate incident.  He took something out of the store and loitered out front - the police tried to arrest him - he resisted - got tased - after years of crack and alcohol his heart gave up later that night.

I don't like the taser thing - I think they are overused and more dangerous than advertised.  It is too easy to pull the trigger on a "harmless" taser.  However in this case this guy really asked for it and got it.
April 25, 2008 2:50 PM
 

Arkman said:

I have been shot with a X26 Taxer and have not had a single problem. Everyone wants to say that poor man he did nothing wrong. Well what about those cops out there who walk out their door and dont know if they will ever see their family again! Think about them sometime!  If people would only obey the law, its not hard, IT IS WRITTEN IN BLACK AND WHITE!! Just do right and everything would be fine! Everyone thinks they know what happened and they were not their! Cops have to make a split decision and if someone resisted they need to get tazed!! What if the did not taze the suspect and he took the cops gun and ran off and kill someone in your family then the shoe would be on the other foot HUU??!
April 28, 2008 6:03 PM
 

KianaBooh said:

I think there is something else to this story than the officers are telling. Somehting happened to this man that the officers did and should be punished when the truth is revealed.
April 28, 2008 6:35 PM
 

InsuranceMan said:

What else could have possibly happened that isnt being told?  Maybe the guy only kicked the cops and didnt punch him.  Or maybe he was only on crack and not PCP.  What do you know.  All we know is that this guy (who was just released from jail) took something from the store and was hanging out someone's business.  Then he resisted arrest.  Not saying that this guy deserved to die, but he sounded like a heck of a humanitarian!!!!

April 29, 2008 1:21 PM
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