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Man dies after threatening family
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Related Topics: Bel Air, Md.
Bel Air, Md. (Map, News) - A man who threatened to kill his family died this morning after he was taken into custody by state troopers.
Maryland State Police reported the man, David P. Matarazzo, 47, of the 1500 block of Hillside Drive, died at the scene shortly after midnight today.
A day earlier troopers had responded to a call at the home where the man was reportedly threatening suicide. The troopers reported they referred Matarazzo to a crisis unit and an area hospital, where he was treated Sunday evening.
Police were called to the scene about 11 p.m. Monday by neighbors and Matarazzo's wife, who told troopers her husband was in the front yard yelling and holding a large rock and folding metal chair. She said Matarazzo wanted her and their two teenage children to come outside and threatened to kill them, according to a police report.
Troopers instructed him to drop the chair, but Matarazzo refused, saying “You’ll have to kill me,” according to authorities.
"Two troopers arrived at the single-family home about seven minutes after the call came in and were confronted by Matarazzo, who was (6-feet, 7 inches) tall and weighed about 550 pounds," police said in a release. " Matarazzo was on the small front porch, holding the metal folding chair. As troopers attempted to arrest Matarazzo, he refused to submit and was sprayed once with pepper spray, which seemed to have little effect on him. Troopers were able to handcuff him behind his back and immediately used a garden hose to wash off the pepper spray."
Shortly after being handcuffed, Matarazzo had difficulty breathing and troopers called for a medical unit to respond to the scene. He was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
An investigation into Matarazzo's death is under way by the troopers and the State Police Criminal Investigation Division Homicide Unit. A second investigation is being conducted by the State Police Internal Affairs Unit.
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Voice of Reason said:
Even if there was only physical used to subdue and take this guy into custody he would probably still be dead. Thankfully, he wasn't shot with a taser to further fuel the ACLU, NAACP fire. It's such a shame that people don't comply with police and the police get the blame. I suppose they should just walk away and get back in their cars when people become non-compliant.
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Examiner Reader said:
I'm sure that we won't get the truth.
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Examiner Reader said:
6'7" and 550 lbs? Can you imagine how much he could eat for breakfast? Sheesh!
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Rocko the Magnificent said:
It appears that the Examiner has learned from last week's headline and article that stated that a man died after being tazered by police. The article and headline insinuated that it had been determined that the use of the tazer by police was the cause of death when it had not yet been determined. Bravo for the examiner in taking the advice of its readers and upgrading its reporting of the news.
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Examiner Reader said:
This man apparently had other health issues. I'm sure the autopsy will show that the pepper spraying was not the cause of his demise.
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