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David Werblow, tasered by police two months ago, suffered “a sudden death following a physical altercation, including electronic shock,” the state’s chief medical examiner said yesterday.
Werblow, 41, was tasered following “resistance” during “a psychotic episode due to schizophrenia,” the medical examiner’s office told the Eagle yesterday. At the time of his death, Werblow lived in a group home for the mentally ill located in a quiet residential neighborhood on Burban Drive. The home is owned by Continuum of Care, a New Haven-based non-profit. The organization purchased the residence after receiving a state grant from the Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services.
The state medical examiner’s office ruled Werblow’s death a homicide, but that does not mean the officer who tasered him will be charged with murder or even a lesser related crime. Homicide is the killing of a human being by the act or omission of another. But not all homicides are considered crimes.
Tasers are legal and they are used by police departments across the nation. But they come with regulations. According to the Branford Police Department’s directive on electronic weapons, a Taser weapon “shall only be used in situations where the subject is actively resisting or attempting to avoid arrest by escape and poses an imminent threat to the safety of him/herself, another person, or the officer.”
The medical examiner’s report in describing Werblow’s state of mind as psychotic confirms what police encountered when they found Werblow running on Burban Drive, refusing to listen to them, resisting pleas to halt and acting erratically. His mental state may well have prevented him from handling the situation unfolding around him.
The full medical examiner’s report was not released. What the medical examiner’s office released yesterday gives in one paragraph the cause and manner of death. It does explain for the first time that Weblog’s death was connected to “a psychotic episode due to schizophrenia.”
The Scene On Burban Drive
Police had been summoned to Werblow’s home by a 911 call. After they arrived, he fled. The police as well as neighbors and a worker assigned to the house said Werblow, a large man weighing about 300 pounds, began to act erratically after he left his house. The police ran after him, telling him to stop; they asked him to get him to get down on the ground. He ignored them. Instead he kept weaving in out of traffic, trying to get motorists to open their doors.
After skirting among the moving cars, Werblow found an unlocked car on the street and got in. Officers attempted to get Werblow to leave the car but he ignored them, a state police press release said. He resisted police efforts to subdue him, but he may well have been terrified as increasing numbers of officers surrounded the car.
According to the state police, Police Officer John Abely, deployed his Taser in order “to gain control of” the man. The state police press release did not state how many times the Taser was used and that information has not been released.
After the Taser was used, Abely and other police officers were able to remove Werblow from the car and place him in handcuffs. According to a
state police press release, police officers immediately noticed that he was in medical distress. A Branford Fire department ambulance, in the vicinity, arrived quickly, but medics were unable to revive him. There were unconfirmed reports that he had a heart attack.
Officer Abely and another officer, whose name has not been released, are now on desk duty at the police department.
Police Chief Responds
Police Chief Kevin Halloran told the Eagle yesterday that he remains confident “that our officers followed policy and procedure; however, the final determination lies with the State’s Attorney’s office and we await their decision.”
The Werblow case has been moved from the chief state’s attorney office in New Haven to the chief state’s attorney’s office in Waterbury in order to avoid conflict of interest issues since police and prosecutors in the New Haven district work closely together.
Maureen Platt, the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Waterbury, whose office is now handling the case, has said the investigation is continuing. Werblow’s family was informed about the results of the autopsy. So far Halloran has not received any report in any form from the Medical Examiner’s office, he told the Eagle when asked.
“The Branford Police Department has and will continue to cooperate fully with this investigation. We have made every effort to be completely transparent since the beginning of the incident,” Halloran said. “The department immediately notified the Connecticut State Police to request an investigation of the incident and prosecutorial review has been moved out of this jurisdiction to remove any perception of impropriety.
“At the current time, the case continues to be investigated by both the Connecticut State Police and State’s Attorney’s office,” Halloran said.
Electric stun guns or Tasers can cause cardiac arrest and death. Thousands of police agencies across the nation have used them and continue to use them. Many lawsuits have emerged from these cases.
Cops Wore Body Cams
State police immediately confiscated the body cameras from all the officers involved in the event that night. All Branford police wear body cams. They and the state’s attorney’s office are now reviewing the body cam information. The cameras will presumably provide investigators with a clear sequence of events and actions as seen from various angles.
According to police records, a 911 call came into headquarters of a person in “extreme distress” at 134 Burban Drive on Sunday, March 15 shortly before 7:45 p.m. Several hours later, Werblow was dead.
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