Local News in Brief : Drugs Blamed in Death of Man Police Quelled
A31-year-old man shot with electrical Taser guns and clubbed by police last month died of “acute intoxication of cocaine and PCP,” a hallucinogenic drug, a county coroner’s official said Thursday.
Robert Herbert Bobier died early June 2 after police found him “kicking and cursing an imaginary opponent” in a darkened room at the French American School in Van Nuys, police said.
Witnesses told police they saw Bobier banging his head against a curb before climbing a fence and breaking into the private school.
Police Lt. Charles Higbie said two officers each shot Bobier twice with Taser guns, which fire darts intended to stun but not to kill. The guns did not stop the man, Higbie said.
The officers then struck Bobier several times with their night sticks, Higbie said, adding that Bobier lost consciousness. The officers took him to Valley Hospital Medical Center, where Bobier lapsed into a coma and died at 2:36 a.m., Higbie said.
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