Police: Gaithersburg Man Acting Erratically Dies After Being Tasered

Authorities are investigating the Friday night death of a 51-year-old Gaithersburg man who police allegedly tasered after he acted erratically and refused orders.

According to Montgomery County Police, officers responded to the 8800 block of Cross Country Place in Gaithersburg around 6:11 p.m. for a report of a male subject acting strangely.

A 911 caller told authorities that the man was standing in a parked pickup truck "yelling profanities, striking the truck with rocks, and crawling on other vehicles," the MCPD said in a statement.

When the first officer arrived, the man reportedly jumped on to the roof of a neighboring SUV. The subject refused orders to come down from the vehicle and continued "to act aggressively and strangely," police said, prompting the officer to spray him with pepper spray.

The man then fled a short distance to a nearby sidewalk, according to police, where he picked up and dropped "a larger potted plant and a landscaping rock" and struck a the front door of a nearby house with a child's scooter.

Additional reinforcements then arrived, officials said, and police ordered the man to leave the front porch of the home. When he refused, officers reportedly tasered the man.

After restraining him with handcuffs, police noticed that the subject wasn't breathing, authorities said. Officers requested fire/EMS support and began to administer CPR, but the man was later pronounced dead at Shady Grove Hospital.

The man's name has not yet been released pending family notification. The five officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave following protocol, according to the MCPD.

Detectives are said to be interviewing 12 witnesses to the incident, but anyone with additional information is asked to contact the MCPD Major Crimes Division at 240-773-5070.