Man Dies Two Days After Police Use Taser to Make Arrest

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A man believed to be high on PCP when Montgomery County Police used a Taser on him to arrest him died in a Silver Spring hospital two days later.

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police – Major Crimes Division are investigating the death of Dajuan Graham, 40, of Burtonsville, who died on May 12. Police arrested Graham on May 10 in the 13900 block of Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring.

An autopsy has been performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. The results are pending, police say.

The patrol officers involved are assigned to the 3rd District Station. They are Officer Nathan Kane, hired in January of 2007, and Marco Aguiniga, hired in August of 2013.

Bystanders stopped an officer the night of May 10 to report an unclothed man was walking north on Castle Boulevard. They said the man was acting erratically and they believed he may have been under the influence of PCP.

A second officer arrived and they drove toward Castle Boulevard, where they met a woman who said Graham punched her in the mouth as shed tried to lead him off the road.

The officers approached Graham, who was standing in the southbound lanes of Castle Boulevard with his hands inside his shorts pockets. Authorities say Graham began to breathe heavily through his nose and make snorting and grunting noises. Police say Graham was asked four times to remove his hands from his pockets so the officers could verify he was armed.

He refused to comply and was hit once in the right abdomen and the right upper thigh, according to police. Graham fell to the ground, was handcuffed and taken by ambulance to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.

During treatment at the hospital, Graham’s handcuffs were removed at the request of the medical staff. As this was done, he reportedly assaulted the officer and hospital security staff, injuring the police officer.

Police say that Graham was never unconscious, and was reportedly talking at the hospital.

The following afternoon Graham was perspiring heavily and he was transferred to the hospital’s Cardiac Care unit with an elevated heart rate.

On May 12 at about 9:42 p.m., two days after being taken to the hospital, Graham suffered what police call a medical event and died.

This remains an active investigation and detectives, per departmental protocol, continue to investigate Graham’s death.

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