SPOKANE — The Washington State Patrol says a Spokane County deputy used a chokehold on a man who confronted deputies outside a South Hill gym.
The Spokesman-Review reports Friday 34-year-old William Berger stopped breathing after the chokehold and eventually died.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Jeff Sevigney says the deputy used the chokehold after the man kept struggling despite three Taser shocks.
The case began at Oz Fitness on Spokane’s South Hill, where the man was lifting weights in the gym. Witnesses say he started throwing weights and screaming, and he punched a hole in a wall and knocked down a paper towel dispenser.
He ran out of the gym into traffic and was confronted by deputies.
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