Autistic Man Dies After Struggle With Police

NBC5
Nov. 22, 2005

CHICAGO -- A 30-year-old man died shortly after he severely bit a caregiver and had to be restrained by Des Plaines police using a Taser gun and a pepper spray, police said Monday.

Dead is Hansel Cunningham of 843 S. Golf Cul De Sac, in Des Plaines, according to a Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Police responded to a call for help at the Des Plaines address at 3:40 p.m. Sunday, according to Des Plaines police release.

The release said that Ahmed Sayed, a caregiver at the residential treatment facility where Cunningham lived, was severely bitten on his hands and arms. He was bitten when he tried to subdue Cunningham, a patient at the facility.

Cunningham, was autistic and mentally retarded, and lived in a care facility named Rimland Services for Autistic Citizens, Tony Jones, a staff member who works at the home, said Monday morning in a telephone interview.

A police news release said that Cunningham became enraged and combative, and resisted attempts by officers to handcuff him.

Cunningham fled to the backyard and took off his clothes, the release said.

The police officers then tried to subdue Cunningham with a Taser and pepper spray, but he defeated these efforts and continued to resist, the release stated.

"We did everything we could to subdue him," Des Plaines Police Chief Jim Prandini said, adding that the use of the taser and pepper spray "didn't faze him."

Officers had to tackle Cunningham to subdue him, Prandini said.

"This is a very unfortunate incident and this was not the intended outcome," Prandini said. "We did everything we knew in our tool box, so to speak, that we were exercising proper care with this gentleman."

After police tackled Cunningham and handcuffed him, the man started to experience difficulty breathing, the release said.

"It was at that point he lost consciousness," Prandini said.

A Des Plaines Fire Department crew, which was on the scene treating Sayed's bite, immediately began life saving measures on Cunningham, but they could not revive him, the release said.

Cunningham was taken to Northwest Community Healthcare in Arlington Heights where he was pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m. Sunday, the medical examiner's office spokesman said.

Calls to the Des Plaines police were referred to a police chief who was not immediately available.

The state police Public Integrity Unit was conducting an independent investigation into the death, the release said.

Jones said he was told that Cunningham bit Sayed because he tried to block Cunningham from entering the kitchen of the home. He said the residents are allowed to go into the kitchen.

He said Cunningham was about 5 feet 7 inches and weighed about 140 pounds.

Jones said that after being attacked, Sayed told another patient of the home to call police.

Cunningham was mute and used sign language to communicate, Jones said.

He believed that Cunningham was confused and did not mean any harm to anyone.

Jones said he has worked with Cunningham for more than six years and had never known Cunningham to be violent. He said Sayed is in his 50s or 60s.

Cunningham said that he had worked with Cunningham from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. He said that Cunningham ate two meals during the day and was in good spirits and watching television when he left for the day.

Jones left the facility after 3 p.m., but returned when he received a call from a staff member telling him what happened, he said.

He arrived shortly after Cunningham was taken to the hospital and found the home surrounded by police tape. Jones said that Cunningham was not on any new medication that would have spurred irregular behavior.

He said that several other residents of the home saw what happened.

Jones said that Cunningham's parents spoke with him Sunday around noon to tell him they were going to pick him up on Wednesday so he could spend Thanksgiving with them in their Chicago home. Cunningham was excited and spent most holidays with his parents, Jones said.

"I'm looking at Hansel's bed now. It's sad," he said.

Cunningham is listed as a registered voter in Illinois.

A representative of the Cook County Public Guardian's office was not immediately available for comment Monday morning.