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Police used new restraining device called a 'wrap' to restrain man
Willow Glen--A Willow Glen man died Saturday morning while struggling with police inside his apartment on the 2100 block of Canoas Garden Avenue.
Several officers were trying to restrain 41-year-old truck driver Shaheed Jamal Daniels by using a new restraint device called a "wrap" when they noticed that he had no pulse. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death is still under investigation.
San Jose police spokesperson Sgt. Steve Dixon said officers were dispatched to a domestic disturbance at the apartment complex just after 9 a.m., when a neighbor called to report a woman screaming for help and a loud argument.
A woman and two children, ages 12 and 1, were taken out of the apartment when police arrived. The woman, who had a large bump on her head, told police that her boyfriend was still inside the apartment and that he was agitated. Police were also told at the scene that Daniels had been drinking alcohol.
Dixon said a police negotiator called on the phone and tried unsuccessfully to get Daniels to come out of the apartment for more than 30 minutes.
Police entered the apartment at about 9:45 a.m. and found the suspect barricaded in a back bathroom. About three officers struggled with Daniels for about a minute and a half, Dixon said, until they were able to handcuff him.
But after he was handcuffed, Daniels continued to struggle and kick violently, and police inside the apartment called in more officers, who brought the wrap device into the house.
One of the officers who came in with the wrap also happened to be the one who was responsible for training the rest of the department in how to use the device after San Jose police first started using wraps about 16 months ago, Dixon said.
Police monitored Daniels' vital signs while they tried to bring the wrap up around his legs, but while they were doing that one of the officers noticed that he no longer had a pulse.
Police called in fire department paramedics, who had been standing by outside the apartment. The paramedics couldn't revive Daniels, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dixon said the wrap, which is designed to be a safe and harmless way to restrain violent suspects, was used correctly during the incident Saturday.
"This almost looks like a textbook case of what you should do," Dixon said. "They waited 30 minutes and didn't go rushing in looking for a fight."
Dixon said police aren't saying what they think might have caused the death. A preliminary coroner's report was not available at press time. The officers involved in struggle sustained bruises in the scuffle, but were not seriously injured.
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Suspect stopped breathing while police used new restraining device called a 'wrap'
Jeff Kearns
Web extra to the July 6-12, 2000 issue of Metro.