LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas police officer used a stun gun seven times and a mixed martial arts neck hold to subdue an unarmed man who died after a foot chase through a casino over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday.
Officer Kenneth Lopera thought the man had tried to carjack a pickup truck with two people inside before the stun gun was used in a series of staccato bursts, punches were thrown and finally the choking technique, which was not approved by the Las Vegas police department, was applied early Sunday at The Venetian resort, Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said.
McMahill showed video from Lopera’s body camera during a news conference on the incident. He did not release the footage and it was unclear how much editing had been done.
“Don’t move! Get on your stomach!” Lopera can be heard telling the man who the Clark County coroner identified as Tashii S. Brown. Police have used the name Tashii Farmer.
“I will!” Brown can be heard saying.
The video then shows Brown on his back with his arms raised before another jolt from the stun gun makes his body stiffen. Brown cries out, “Please! Please!”
The struggle between Lopera, who is white, and Brown, who is black, became more physical, and Venetian security guards joined the effort to put handcuffs on Brown before other police officers arrived.
Sheriff Joe Lombardo told The Associated Press there was no indication that race played a role in the incident. The investigation was ongoing.
McMahill said Lopera was heard on the video saying he used a “rear naked choke,” a prominent mixed martial arts chokehold that differs from a department-approved technique that some departments call a “lateral vascular neck restraint” and others refer to as a carotid artery hold.
Department officials said previously that the officer had used the approved technique, which is banned in many other cities.
McMahill said Lopera held Brown’s neck for more than a minute — far longer than the seven to 10 seconds it might take for an approved carotid restraint to render a person unconscious.
Police and the coroner say it could take several weeks to determine what killed Brown.
Lopera, 31, has been a Las Vegas police officer for five years, McMahill said. He is on paid leave pending departmental and district attorney reviews of the incident.
He has not provided a statement about the incident to department investigators.
McMahill said Brown was sweating and appeared disoriented when he initially approached Lopera and a partner in a casino coffee shop, said people were chasing him, and ran into an employee-only area, down hallways and outside to the parking area.
Brown also used the name Tashi Sebastian Farmer and Tashii Farmer-Brown.
He grew up in Hawaii, where records show he was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and was released from prison in January 2016. He pleaded guilty in February in Las Vegas to misdemeanor driving under the influence.
Brown grew up in Hawaii, where records show he was released from prison in January 2016 after serving a sentence for assaulting his girlfriend.
In Las Vegas, he pleaded guilty in February to misdemeanor driving under the influence.
Brown was a father of two children in Hawaii and lived with his mother in Las Vegas where he had a business selling shoes, hats and clothing, according to Tynisa Braun, a cousin in Honolulu.