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Unarmed Baytown man dies after being Tased twice by Chambers County deputy

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Oliver Jarrod Gregoire

Oliver Jarrod Gregoire

An unarmed 26-year-old Baytown man died Sunday after being Tased twice by a Chambers County deputy.

Oliver Jarrod Gregoire of Baytown was pronounced dead at the San Jacinto Methodist Hospital, authorities said.

According to Sheriff Brian C. Hawthorne, his dispatchers received multiple 911 calls involving Gregoire before Chambers County Sheriff's Deputy Bradley Hasley was dispatched. Callers first reported a black male "who was very excited" and trying to stop vehicles on FM 3180. "The caller stated the man was trying to open the driver's door to the vehicle and get into the car," the report stated.

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A second 911 call reported that the man had kicked in the back door of a residence in the 4400 block of Wood Duck in Baytown and used a pole that he found in the residence to attack an unidentified woman living there. Authorities declined to say if Gregoire and the woman knew each other, but the address is listed as his on his driver's license, records show.

Gregoire left the residence for awhile, but then returned to "tear up the inside," the report said.

When Hasley arrived, he spotted Gregoire exiting the woman's house and "deployed his Taser, hitting the suspect who went to the ground," the report said.

But Hawthorne said Gregoire ripped off the electrical probes that jolted him and charged the deputy, so the deputy shot him a second time with the Taser, sending him to the ground.

A neighbor, who witnessed the incident, came to the deputy's aid and helped handcuff Gregoire.

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Emergency medical crews had arrived to treat the woman with minor injuries in her house, when Hasley noticed Gregoire appeared "unresponsive."

Hasley began to immediately administer CPR until the ambulance crew took over and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Texas Rangers have been called to investigate the death.

 

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Cindy Horswell has been a writer at the Houston Chronicle since 1979, where she has won numerous awards for features, news and investigative pieces that she has authored.

A graduate of the University of Texas where she made the dean's list and wrote for the "Daily Texan," she holds a Bachelor of journalism degree. She also has been previously employed as a newscaster at KNOW, an AM radio staton that was No. 1 in the Austin market at that time, where she won an award for a documentary; and was assistant editor of a magazine published by the Texas Restaurant Association.