# 400 lb. man killed by cops **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268 "2003-12-01T15:25:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/21 "2003-12-02T01:52:00Z")
this is going to be great. white cops and a black suspect. i remember the riots of a year or so ago when a cop shot a running black person who committed a misdemeanor. i think that was cincinatti too. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/22 "2003-12-02T02:01:24Z")
yes, but this is different. The police were having a hard time subduing him. One station even mentioned how notice the police didn’t hit him in the head so as to not kill him. death by white castle ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/23 "2003-12-02T02:04:08Z")
**rsa** said > [@](#): > > Initially there were only two policemen and they weren’t able to get him controlled and cuffed until another four policeman showed up. In a lot of cities he would have been shot pretty early on. So my initial impression is that the Cincinnati PD acted professionally. He would have been shot early on in WHAT city? Or was that just a remark that you didn’t think through?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/24 "2003-12-02T02:11:40Z")
pretty impressive video; what with the tackle. I fele sorry for him, though. Did he have any family? ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/25 "2003-12-02T02:18:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stpauler \* > \*\*[Google is your friend](http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/2672531/detail.html) > \*\* Anyone else struck by the irony of the “Cheer” detergent ad that you have to watch before the video? Just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/26 "2003-12-02T02:21:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*Looks like he arrested himself. \*\* 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/27 "2003-12-02T02:24:27Z")
I don’t get that irony. But I did fint the “Heart Protection Study” ad highly ironic. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/28 "2003-12-03T19:56:30Z")
I saw an interesting update on this situation from [Fox News:](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104721,00.html) > [@](#): > > Coroner Rules 350-Pound Man’s Death a Homicide > > Parrott said the death will be ruled a homicide, but added that such a ruling “should not be interpreted as implying inappropriate behavior or the use of excessive force by police.” ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/29 "2003-12-03T23:56:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Parrott said the death will be ruled a homicide, but added that such a ruling “should not be interpreted as implying inappropriate behavior or the use of excessive force by police.” Basically, if the deliberate actions of another person result in someone’s death, then it’s a homocide. Homocide != murder. In this case, the coroner found that, had he not struggled with the police, he would not have died. Well, not right _then_, anyway. It wasn’t being hit by the batons that did it though, it was just the physical exertion of the struggle. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/30 "2003-12-05T02:48:45Z")
For non-programmer dopers the bang, the exclamation point, changes the meaning to “not equal to.” PCP, coke, alcohol, white castle burgers and fighting with cops, a deadly mix even if you don’t have a bad heart. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/31 "2003-12-05T03:21:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > \*\*PCP, coke, alcohol, white castle burgers and fighting with cops, a deadly mix even if you don’t have a bad heart. \*\* Yes, and regardless of your weight. The guy’s weight only comes into play with the fact that more force was needed to subdue him than would’ve been required had he weighed 200 pounds. It seems to me that they’re talking up this guy’s weight in some (misguided, IMO) effort to take pressure off of the cops – “Of course his heart quit, he was hugely fat!” But the shorthand doesn’t hold true in general and not even in the specific case. Fat != Bad Heart. Drugs != Bad Heart. But Bad Heart = Bad Heart and PCP (and other narcotics) on board = extraordinarily violent and aggressive. Those are the issues which are most likely to have played a factor in the man’s death, and I’m not sure why (despite the continuing, disgusting “novelty” factor that the media likes to apply to fat people) this story is being played as “400 lb. man dead after violent clash with cops” instead of “Drug user with cardiac problems dead after violent clash with cops” except that the latter is easier to fit in a headline. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/32 "2003-12-05T03:25:42Z")
That should have read “the latter is _harder_ to fit in a headline.” Not easier. That was a glaringly stupid error. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@Dave\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_D)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/33 "2003-12-05T07:35:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > \*\*For non-programmer dopers the bang, the exclamation point, changes the meaning to “not equal to.” > > PCP, coke, alcohol, white castle burgers and fighting with cops, a deadly mix even if you don’t have a bad heart. \*\* And to make it worse according to the fox link he had methanol, IE wood alcohol, in his system. ---
**Author:** ![ekow2kn3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@ekow2kn3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekow2kn3)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268/34 "2003-12-05T07:46:07Z")
He was obviously killed because they were afraid he might run away…or roll away with the cops in such bad shape as they are, he just might make it… :-p j/k but hey if he were running down hill his momentum would carry him pretttttty quickly [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/400-lb-man-killed-by-cops/216268.md?page=1)