Police flee room after using stun gun on man who burst into flames, video shows
CATSKILL, N.Y. (WTEN) – New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday released a chilling set of videos showing the moment police officers used a stun gun on an agitated man in their front lobby, after he had doused himself in hand sanitizer. The man then burst into flames, causing officers to temporarily leave the room.
The Attorney General’s Office said the footage is part of the investigation into the death of 29-year-old Jason Jones, who passed on December 15, 2021, after the encounter with police on October 30.
The AG’s Office said Jones walked into the Catskill Police Department, where he started a verbal altercation with three officers. The video does not include audio; however, officers appear to try speaking to Jones for around 30 minutes as he wanders, distressed, in and out of the frame.
“Without hearing what was said, we can’t evaluate how effective de-escalation may have been in this case,” said police training expert and former officer John Cooney of the Troy Police Department.
Later in the video, Jones is seen taking off his shirt before picking up a large jug of hand sanitizer and spraying it over his neck, head, and back. When an officer uses a stun gun in an attempt to subdue him, Jones bursts into flames.
Jones had been hospitalized since the incident until he was pronounced dead in December.
“The Taser is 50,000 volts of electricity. It’s well known, police are trained, not to use it in that circumstance. Jason predictably ignited as a result of that,” said Kevin Luibrand, the lawyer representing the Jones family. “Every single day police come into contact with people having some form of mental health episode, whether it’s on the streets or at home, and there’s ways to handle it. That’s not the way to handle it.”
Cooney, however, disagreed and said the earlier parts of the video, which showed the beginning of the encounter, indicated Jones was reaching h..
