A “violent and uncontrollable” resident of a Long Island group home for the developmentally disabled died after officers used a Taser on him during a struggle, a police official said yesterday.
Three officers were treated at a hospital and released following the Wednesday-night encounter, Suffolk County Police Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said at a briefing.
An autopsy was planned to determine what caused the death of the resident, Dainell Simmons, 29.
The officers — two women and a man — initially were able to calm Simmons after they were summoned to the Maryhaven Center of Hope facility, a tidy, two-story house with brown shingles and black and white trim in Middle Island.
But when they told Simmons they were taking him to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, he began kicking and punching them, Fitzpatrick said.
All three officers wrestled with the 240-pound Simmons on the floor while trying to handcuff him. Two used a Taser on him, and also used pepper spray in a bid to subdue him.
The state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, which regulates group homes, declined to comment.