Brian Cardall, who died after being Tasered twice by police in a short period of time, pleaded with law enforcers "don't shoot me" and talked about being involved in a standoff just prior to being Tasered.
Cardall family members Wednesday released dramatic 911 tapes and police recordings of the incident to the media. The tapes reveal a chaotic and emotional situation that played out on the side and in the middle of state Route 59 near Hurricane.
Anna Cardall's 911 call (explicit content)
Officer's recording (explicit content)
Cardall, 32, his wife, Anna, and their 2-year-old daughter were traveling back to their home in Flagstaff, Ariz., on June 9.
"He's freaking out, he's just freaking out," Anna Cardall told dispatchers. "He's full-blown lost it."
Anna Cardall described a frantic scene of her husband taking off all his clothes and running into traffic trying to either flag down vehicles or direct traffic. She told dispatchers that her daughter was locked safely in the car, but Anna Cardall was scared and worried her husband was going to be hit by another vehicle.
"Stop, Brian, you're going to get hurt," she can be heard crying on the 911 recording. "Brian, please stop."
Anna Cardall told the dispatcher her husband had bipolar disorder and was "just having a freak out. I've given him his medicine. It'll take an hour to kick in." She also told dispatchers her husband did not have a weapon.
In the background, Brian Cardall can be heard screaming several nonsensical sentences.
"I'm a drill sergeant. This is a (expletive) drill," he yells repeatedly.
Another time, Cardall can be heard saying, "Listen to me God, (expletive) Jesus, my God, my redeemer, save me." He is also heard asking his wife, "Would you ever like to meet the president? Yes, well I want to meet him someday. And if you want Ava to live to see that day, we have to go now. Keep walking."
In a separate emergency recording from one of the responding officers, whose words were recorded after he activated his lights and siren, the officer and several others can be heard repeatedly telling Cardall to "get on the ground." Approximately 40 seconds after the officer gave his first command to get down, the "popping" sound of a Taser being deployed can be heard, followed by Cardall moaning in apparent pain. Approximately 12 seconds later, after telling Cardall to stay on the ground, the Hurricane officer says, "Taser deployed" again. About 30 seconds after that, the officer indicates the situation is under control.
"He went down, and he tried to get up, and I told him to stay down and I Tased him again," the officer said after the incident.
While officers and paramedics were talking to each other, one of them asked, "Did he come after you?" Another officer answered, "Mmm hmm."
Later, another officer can be heard saying Cardall came right at him.
Prior to the Taser being deployed, Cardall can be heard talking about a "standoff" and asking whether his wife was safe.
The officer also described Cardall as being "pale, like that jaundice when we got here" and said "he was foaming at the mouth when we got here."
About two minutes after the Tasering, the officers can be heard calling Cardall's name, as though they were trying to get his attention. A minute later, they were talking about his breathing pattern, and another minute later, about having "no pulse at all" and getting a defibrillator.
"We Taser him, he went down, not breathing, … no pulse," the officer told another person, possibly a medical responder.
"Excited delirium, huh?" he replies.
"Yeah," the officer said.
"Excited delirium" has been described as a controversial term used to explain the sudden deaths of people, usually extremely agitated suspects, in police custody who were being restrained. The term has been used in the past in other states during Taser deployments.
"It is with great sadness, but also a desire for public awareness and understanding, that we release these audio recordings that provide significant insight into the death on June 9 of our son and brother, Brian Layton Cardall," the Cardall family said in a statement Wednesday.
The family decided to release the recordings after attorney Peter Stirba, representing the Hurricane Police Department, issued a statement Friday describing select details of the recordings. Cardall family members took issue with some of the comments from Stirba, claiming "numerous highly significant facts" were left out.
The family did not specifically point out which parts of the recording they felt were most significant.
Stirba called the situation "tragic" and said the recordings "speak for themselves" regarding the complexity of the situation and the officer's "fully justified" use of non-lethal force.
A preliminary autopsy report had not been released to the media as of Wednesday.
During his funeral this week, family members compared the lot of Cardall to that of various martyrs.
"I can't help but think of facts surrounding Brian's death when I read the account of our Savior's crucifixion in the book of Luke," Brian Cardall's father, Duane Cardall, said. "He hung on the cross virtually naked … treated ill by officers of the law. His words resound in my ear: 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.' "
Cardall tearfully continued that he hopes and prays, and has counseled his children and grandchildren "to follow the example of Jesus Christ and hold no animosity nor vindictiveness" toward the circumstances — individually or collectively — surrounding the untimely death.
Paul Cardall likened qualities and life experiences of his deceased brother to Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, saying he thought of Brian when recently reading Smith's scriptural account. Like Smith, Brian Cardall could often be found "meditating in the woods," Paul Cardall said. "He worried about his soul … wondering if God knew him, trying to find his role in the Creation."
Contributing: Wendy Leonard
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com