Coconut Creek officers cleared in death of inmate

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – There are new details about three Coconut Creek police officers who were at the center of a case involving a man who died after being shot with a stun gun.

The officers were first called out to help Calvon Reid, 39, with alleged injuries, but then he refused treatment. The officers are now back on the job.

Bonnie Arendale hoped three Coconut Creek police officers who used a Taser on Reid, causing his death, would never return to the streets.

"I don't think they should be policemen anymore," Bonnie Arendale said.

Reid was shot with a stun gun repeatedly by all three officers outside of Bonnie Arendale's condo. She said she heard Reid's screams for help before he went into cardiac arrest.

Last month the medical examiner's officer ruled Reid's death a homicide by electrocution. A criminal investigation into those officers' actions remains active.

"We hoped there would be some justice," Bonnie Arendale said.

But now the Coconut Creek Police Department has put the officers back on the street, apparently clearing them of all wrongdoing.

"Shocked and disappointed" was reaction from both Bonnie Arendale and her husband, John Arendale, to the news. Both testified in the investigation and feel the police actions in the case were unnecessary.

"We were expecting the next news we would hear would be an indictment," John Arendale said.

This is only the latest questionable action by the city, which didn't notify the public of Reid's death and then tried to withhold public information about the case.

Then-Chief Michael Mann resigned after it was discovered that officers involved, including Sgt. David Freeman, the senior officer on scene didn't have up-to-date certification to even carry the Tasers.

The attorney representing Reid's family, Jarretty Blakeley, blasted the decision to put Freeman and the two other officers back on the street.

The Coconut Creek Police Department does not have the last say on the case. It's now in the hands of the state attorney's office and will ultimately go before a grand jury.

The attorney representing the officers, Tony Alfero, told Local 10's Bob Norman he believes other factors, including a heart condition and the fact that blood tests showed cocaine in Reid's bloodstream, may have been to blame for Reid's death.

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