Philadelphia Inquirer
Thu, Feb. 14, 2002 (Death on Feb 2 02)
Northeast man dies after police use stun gun in arrest
Officers said he was vocal after being hit. He had cocaine in his system, but whether
it was a factor is still unclear.
By Thomas J. Gibbons Jr.
Inquirer Staff Writer
A Northeast Philadelphia man reported to be brandishing a knife early yesterday died
after police attempting to arrest him shot him with a Taser gun. It was the first such
fatality since police began using the electric weapon last year, authorities said.
Preliminary tests showed the victim, Anthony Spencer, 35, of the 6200 block of Brous
Avenue in Mayfair, had cocaine in his system, police said.
Whether the drug played a part in the death of Spencer at 1:43 a.m. at Frankford
Hospital's Frankford Division - 38 minutes after officers responded to a call reporting a
naked male with a knife - will not be determined until autopsy reports and final
toxicological tests are analyzed.
Police said that when officers arrived at the house, they found a formidable foe in
Spencer, who was more than 6 feet tall and weighed about 280 pounds. They said he was
naked outside the house and brandishing a 7-inch folding knife with the blade open.
As officers approached, Spencer went inside, followed by police. Family members
warned that he was still armed with the knife, said Capt. Thomas Lippo of the Homicide
Division.
Spencer went upstairs to a bedroom and then came back down as officers tried to calm
him, Lippo said.
"At this point, the male pushed past police and once again went outside," Lippo said.
Then, in an effort to subdue him, police employed pepper spray.
"When this had no effect on the male initially, the supervisor on the scene then utilized
his Taser," Lippo said.
Police sergeants across the city carry Tasers in their patrol cars and are certified to use
them after completing an eight-hour training course. The gun, which looks like a 9mm
Glock, fires two darts, or probes, designed to stop a human with a 50,000-volt electrical
current. Recovery time is almost immediate.
The Taser shot disrupts the muscles that control arms and legs while leaving the heart and
breathing reflex alone. The weapon, which went into service early last year, has raised
eyebrows at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.
Larry Frankel, executive director, said Spencer's death "is reason for the Police
Department to review their use of these weapons."
"If something was wrong here, they should take appropriate steps," Frankel said.
It was the first time a death occurred here after the weapon was used, police said.
After Spencer was struck with the current, he was handcuffed and placed in a patrol
wagon for the ride to the hospital.
"He was conscious at the time. He was talking the whole time, ranting the whole time on
the way to the hospital," Lippo said. "At some point, he became unconscious and
expired."

The death is being investigated by the Homicide Division and the Internal Affairs
Division.
"All indications are obviously they did follow procedure," Lippo said of the officers'
actions.
Police said they were familiar with the Brous Avenue address and had answered a halfdozen calls there for domestic issues since Jan. 1. Spencer's behavior yesterday was
nothing new, they said.
"We do have indications that he did have a drinking history in the past and he has utilized
drugs, and as a result of that, sometimes he became irrational. And in this case, we
believe that's essentially what happened," Lippo said.
According to criminal records, Spencer was convicted of retail theft in 1995. The next
year, he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, and last year, he was convicted of
unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property, and a weapons offense.
---------