Man Dies After Being Subdued by Taser

A 25-year-old man died Sunday after police said they interrupted a violent outburst in which he broke windows, smashed furniture and cut his wrists and arms with glass at a friend’s apartment, which he had also set on fire.

The man, whose name was not released, used a couch to barricade himself inside the home on the 1000 block of MacArthur Boulevard shortly after 9 p.m. Police said he then started a fire in the kitchen and refused to come out.

Police officers and firefighters broke down the door and managed to put out the flames. They said the man struggled and yelled despite the smoke that had begun to fill the apartment.

Officers then used a Taser gun to subdue the man, Sgt. Steve Despenas said. The dart-shooting gun delivers a quick electrical shock that can immobilize a suspect.

“He continued to resist and fight,” Despenas said. “He just wasn’t slowing down.”

Minutes after being put on a stretcher, the man stopped breathing. He was taken to Coastal Community Hospital on South Bristol Street, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities are waiting for the results of toxicology tests on the man, but they suspected his “violent outburst” and physical endurance was the result of drugs, Despenas said. An official cause of death is not clear, police said.

“We’re not sure what set him off,” Despenas said.

The death is being investigated by the department’s internal affairs unit and Santa Ana Fire Department officials, who are handling their portion of the case as arson.