Rockledge police officers were not to blame in the December death of a man who was shocked by Tasers while being held under Baker Act custody, the state attorney’s office said Wednesday.
Preston Bussey III died at Wuesthoff Medical Center-Rockledge on Dec. 19, after two officers restrained him by firing Tasers. Reports said Bussey, 41, came to the hospital with self-inflicted wounds on his hands and had threatened the police, who responded to a call for help from hospital staff members, with exposure to his blood. Bussey stopped breathing after being placed on an emergency room gurney.
The medical examiner has said that “cocaine-excited delirium” was the cause of death.
After an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Brevard-Seminole State Attorney’s Office said, “The death was a result of Mr. Bussey’s substance abuse and not the result of any action… of the Rockledge Police Department.” The investigation included interviews with hospital personnel and the officers involved, as well as crime-scene evidence.
Bussey went to the hospital under his own power early on Dec. 19, but he was admitted involuntarily for psychological examination, a provision of the Baker Act. According to police reports, Bussey fled the hospital when employees tried to admit him. He later returned and attempted to access restricted areas of the emergency room, which is when the police were called. The officers deployed their Tasers in an attempt to subdue him.
Bussey’s death devastated his family. His brother, Vincent Bussey, 29, died in October 1999 after Melbourne police arrested him on a battery charge. They took him to Holmes Regional Medical Center with a cut to his chin. He lost consciousness while struggling with police and died hours later.
“The thing about these two boys is that they hadn’t robbed a bank,” their father, Preston Bussey Jr., told FLORIDA TODAY in December. “They weren’t on drugs. These boys weren’t fugitives. They had not committed any crime.”
After the results of the investigation into the death of Preston Bussey III, Rockledge police said they requested a meeting with the family and its attorney. They declined.
“This was an unfortunate death, and the condolences of the entire Rockledge Police Department are extenuated to the Bussey family,” the department said Wednesday in a statement.
