A resident of Irkutsk died after police tried to wake him up with a stun gun in a taxi

In Irkutsk, a 24-year-old young man died after police tried to wake him up with a stun gun. A criminal case has been opened against the police officers.

As Interfax reports with reference to City Duma deputy Alexander Kvasov, on the night of February 15, the young man was riding in a taxi and fell asleep. The driver was unable to wake him up and turned to the police, who used a stun gun. The passenger died after the impact. According to Kvasov, the police used a stun gun without legal grounds.

The head of the Irkutsk Municipal Internal Affairs Ministry, Oleg Savin, said that the police were fired after an internal inspection. A criminal case has been opened against them for abuse of power.

The young man’s mother, Margarita Kharchenko, said that her son was returning home drunk from the club by taxi and fell asleep. At the end of the trip, the driver was unable to wake him up and turned for help to a passing police patrol crew. The police decided to wake up the young man with a stun gun. Death occurred from acute heart failure.

In March 2019, in Omsk, a minibus taxi passenger lost consciousness during a trip, after which the driver pulled him out onto the street, hitting his head on a metal handrail, and drove off. The driver did not call an ambulance, the passenger died.

Updated at 11:30 am . Former police officers said that with the help of a stun gun they wanted not to wake up, but to resuscitate the young man, who was not showing signs of life.