Huffington Post
WSVN-TV -
A Miami Beach teen died Tuesday after being shocked with a taser in
the chest after police spotted him spray-painting graffiti on an empty
building.
Israel Hernandez, 18, was a skateboarder and artist who "wanted to change the world somehow through art,” his sister, Offir Hernandez, told the Miami Herald.
Miami Beach Police said they spotted Hernandez tagging an abandoned fast-food restaurant just after 5 a.m Tuesday morning near 71st Street at Collins Avenue.
"During the foot pursuit, the subject encountered officers face to face... and ignored officers' commands to stop," MBPD Chief Raymond Martinez said in a statement. "In order to affect his arrest, an officer deployed his conducted electrical weapon (TASER)."
Hernandez's friends Felix Fernandez and Thiago Souza said they were
serving as lookouts when he was spotted by police. They told WSVN officers shoved Hernandez against a wall, then high-fived as he lay motionless.
"That made me feel terrible inside. These cops are gruesome, and they don't really care," Fernandez said.
Chief Martinez said that when Hernandez showed signs of medical
duress, Miami Beach Fire Rescue responded to the scene and transported
him to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
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