Originally Posted by Joplin Globe

County Coroner Erik Mitchell concluded that Walter E. Haake Jr., who has diabetes and heart problems, died after being held face down by deputies. Mitchell found that the March 30 death at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in north Topeka, where Haake worked, was accidental.

The deputies and an ambulance crew were responding to a call that Haake, 59, of Lawrence, was having medical problems. He tried to leave, but company security guards detained him in the parking lot, fearing for his safety.

Originally Posted by Free Republic

Walter E. Haake Jr., a 59-year-old Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. worker, died early Sunday after an ambulance and two deputies responded to a report that he was having a medical emergency.

Haake was in his car at Goodyear's north Topeka plant, and the deputies asked him to get out. After he refused repeatedly, a deputy used her Taser. Haake was handcuffed but didn't respond when deputies asked him to rise, according to various accounts.

"They had his keys, where was he going to go?" Marc Luetje, a co-worker who said he witnessed the incident, told The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Originally Posted by Topeka Capital-Journal

[Shawnee County Sheriff Dick]Barta said deputies had Haake's keys in hand when they tased him in the Goodyear parking lot. The taser was used in its drive stun mode, which means it can be held against a person without firing a cartridge. In this capacity, the taser can cause pain without being incapacitating, Barta said.

Barta said the sheriff's office received a medical emergency call at 11:17 p.m. Saturday. The first deputy arrived at Goodyear at 11:22 p.m. and found Haake behind the wheel of a white Jeep. Goodyear employees, including fire and rescue personnel, also were on the scene.

...

Luetje was one of the employees. In a phone interview Wednesday, Luetje said Haake had fallen down some steps at home earlier Saturday and sustained a head injury. He arrived for work at 11 a.m.

Luetje said he saw Haake at about 10:45 p.m in the break room surrounded by Goodyear first-responders. Luetje later saw Haake walking along a hallway.

"I said, 'Come on Ed, let's get some help,' " Luetje said, who added that Haake refused his offer. "He barely said anything. He was sweating a lot and walking funny. He was hunched over to the right and was taking labored steps."

The next time Luetje saw Haake, he was being assisted to his car by Goodyear first-responders.

"I watched him walk to his car and put his stuff in the passenger seat," Luetje said.

He noted that the keys to Haake's vehicle were in a bag on the passenger seat.

Barta said the first deputy on scene questioned Haake. American Medical Response arrived, as well as another deputy, each of whom also tried to communicate with Haake. An AMR supervisor said Haake was in need of medical attention, Barta said, and asked deputies to intervene by removing Haake from the vehicle.

...

Luetje said he didn't believe the use of force was necessary, but added that his friend needed medical help and wasn't getting out of the Jeep.

...

Luetje said he didn't see a physical confrontation but said it did take officers about 45 seconds to handcuff Haake, who was lying on the ground. He said when officers and AMR personnel tried to get Haake to stand up, he was unresponsive.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered with Haake still handcuffed behind his back, Luetje said. After about 20 minutes of CPR, Luetje said the handcuffs were removed and an IV started.

Haake was taken to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center, where he was pronounced dead, Barta said

Originally Posted by WSWS.org

Shawnee County Sheriff’s deputies received a medical emergency call at 11:17 p.m. March 29 from the Goodyear plant. Workers and management were concerned for the safety of Walter E. Haake Jr., 59, who had reportedly taken a fall earlier at home and might have sustained a head injury. Haake, who went by the name “Ed,” had arrived at the plant for work at 11 a.m.

When the deputies arrived on the scene, they found Haake behind the wheel of a white Jeep in the parking lot. A number of Goodyear employees, as well as company fire and rescue personnel, were also on the scene. American Medical Response (AMR) personnel were also summoned. Eyewitnesses reported that Haake was acting disoriented, and they were worried that he might endanger himself or others if he drove home.

At a press conference Wednesday, Shawnee County Sheriff Dick Barta reported that one of the AMR personnel said Haake had been in need of medical attention and asked the deputies to remove him from the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Newsvine

The Shawnee County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday called the recent death of a Lawrence man accidental and said it was not caused by use of a Taser stun gun.

Walter E. Haake Jr., 59, died last month after an altercation with Shawnee County Sheriff’s officers at Topeka’s Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant.

In a released statement, Coroner Erik Mitchell said Haake’s death was accidental.

In a released statement on Newsvine, Digits said, "Well I would hope it not take a coroner to explain that the police over there in Lawrence, Kansas do not have authority to kill purposefully in the first place."

And in an uncharacteristic moment of sarcasm, she uttered under her breath, "Thank god the coroner let us know that the police didn't mean to kill Mr. Haake."

“The cause of death is of cardiac nature, with contribution by compression of the torso,” the report said. Mitchell was unavailable for comment Tuesday evening.

Haake had a history of cardiac disease and diabetes mellitus, according to the coroner’s release. And the positioning of his body at the time of death also was a contributing factor, Mitchell found.

“Haake died while held face down on the ground and as handcuffs were applied,” the release said. “Sudden death occasionally results from positional mechanisms and from cardiac mechanisms when persons are held in the position described.”

...

To Summarize: Mr. Haake, aged 59, was uncooperative. Hence the tasering 3 times. That did not cause his death. But rather his death was caused by his *positioning mechanisms* and "cardiac mechanisms* whereupon the handcuffs were put on him while in a certain position. -- At least according to Shawnee County Coroner Erik Mitchell.