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Greenwood police chief stands by officers in death of tased man

Coroner says cause of death appears to be natural
Posted at 8:41 PM, Jun 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-15 20:56:23-04

GREENWOOD, Ind. -- A man who was tased by Greenwood Police died of natural causes, according to the Johnson County Coroner.

Authorities released body cam video of the incident on Wednesday.

Police were responding to a call on May 20 of a man trying to commit suicide by getting hit by a car. 

They found Charles Todero, 30, wandering in and out of traffic at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Camby Street 

Police say he was holding a bible and said he was Jesus Christ. 

Todero was warned he would be tased. Officers say they did it to protect him as he kept trying to walk into traffic.

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A taser was deployed 16 times over a three-minute period. It may not have been touching Todero the entire time because it was caught on his clothing.

Police say Todero was combative in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

He was given medication and went into cardiac arrest.

Todero died Sunday after being in a coma for two weeks.

The Johnson County Coroner says his death appears to be natural, caused by liver issues and Hepatitis C.

Greenwood Police say they had 53 incidents with Todero prior to May 20, and he had 15 arrests.

They say they don't believe this case was mishandled and the officers did not thing wrong.

The officer who tased Todero was not wearing a body camera.

45 of 59 officers in the Greenwood Police Department have body cams. They do not have dash cams in their vehicles.