Man Subdued by Taser Gun Dies

A 35-year-old man collapsed and died at the County-USC Medical Center about three hours after Los Angeles police used Taser guns in their efforts to subdue and arrest him, investigators reported today.

Police arrested the man--whose identity was withheld pending notification of next of kin--outside an apartment house in the Rampart area after neighbors complained that he was stabbing at carpeting and the ground with a kitchen knife and screwdriver. It was the third death of a suspect subdued by a Taser gun in the Los Angeles area in the last 20 months. In two previous cases, the suspects had been under the influence of PCP and died of heart failure. In the case reported today, the cause of death was not immediately determined.