Man dies after fighting, being Tased by deputies
BY STEVE E. SWENSON, Californian staff writer sswenson@bakersfield.com
A 25-year-old Bakersfield man died Thursday morning in the custody of sheriff's deputies after he had been hit with a Taser gun and bit by a sheriff's dog.
Deputies went to the home of Rory Romal McKenzie at about 12:45 a.m. after his wife flagged down a deputy and said she had just been assaulted by her husband and he was armed with a baseball bat.
The victim had minor injuries and declined medical aid.
But when deputies went to the 900 block of Feliz Drive, McKenzie resisted arrest, deputies said.
The deputies shot him with a Taser, which has darts at the end of electrically charged wires.
McKenzie continued to struggle until a sheriff's dog bit his leg. He was then handcuffed.
A short time later, deputies noticed he was having a hard time breathing. They took off the handcuffs and administered CPR.
Paramedics were summoned and they took him to Kern Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2 a.m.
McKenzie was arrested in February this year on spousal abuse and resisting arrest charges, but the spousal abuse charge was dismissed in a plea bargain.
The deputies involved in the incident were Sgt. Otis Whinery, a 24 year veteran; Senior Deputy Douglas Jauch, K-9 Handler an 8 year veteran; Deputy Edward Tucker, a 12 year veteran, and Deputy Patrick McNeal, a 6 year veteran.
McKenzie is the second man to die in police custody in the last two weeks.
Steven Lee Seaman Jr., 39, inflicted many injuries on himself -- throwing himself off two roofs, bashing his head on a fire hydrant and striking his own head with a shovel -- before police took him into custody on June 20.
He stopped breathing after he was handcuffed. Similar attempts were made to save his life, but he died at Mercy Hospital. His family reported he had mental health and alcohol problems, which included at least three drunken driving convictions.
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