[chris]

Brian Cardall, a 32-year-old Arizona man, died after a Hurricane police officer shocked him twice with a Taser during what his wife had told dispatchers was a psychiatric emergency on State Route 59 outside Hurricane, in Washington County, on June 9, 2009.

Cardall was pronounced dead at a hospital after the encounter. He worked as a scientist at Northern Arizona University, according to KSL, and was traveling home with his wife, Anna Cardall, and their infant daughter when he began behaving erratically, removed his clothes and walked into the roadway.

Anna Cardall called 911 and told the dispatcher her husband believed he was directing traffic and that she feared he would be struck by a vehicle. "He has full-blown lost it. He's got a mental illness," she said. She said he was unarmed, had bipolar disorder and had taken Seroquel, a drug used to treat manic episodes. When the dispatcher asked whether he was on methamphetamine, she said the problem was his illness. Cardall could be heard shouting in the background, and dispatch and scene audio from the call was later released publicly.

According to the Washington County Attorney's review, Officer Kenneth Thompson got out of his patrol car with his Taser already drawn. Officers repeatedly ordered Cardall to get on the ground. The review found Thompson fired the Taser roughly 40 seconds after the first command and again about 12 seconds later. Cardall went unresponsive within about half a minute, and paramedics treated him at the scene.

The state medical examiner listed the cause of death as ventricular fibrillation and the manner of death as undetermined. The report said the Taser barbs penetrated deeply into Cardall's bare chest directly above his heart and that the weapon "could represent a possible primary or contributory cause of death." It also said his agitated mental state and rapid heart rate would have put him at risk of sudden cardiac death independent of the Taser.

Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap declined to file charges in November 2009, concluding that Thompson "responded to a tense, uncertain and rapidly unfolding situation in a manner consistent with his training." Karra Porter, an attorney advising the family, said the Cardalls were disappointed in the review and that it glossed over eyewitness accounts. She said Thompson drew the Taser before leaving his vehicle, Cardall was naked and carried no weapon, and officers had been told he was having a bipolar episode. Witnesses described Cardall taking a single step toward the officer rather than running at him as Thompson reported, Porter said. She also faulted the decision not to have an outside agency investigate. The family said it was weighing its options.