David P. Matarazzo

Less-than-lethal force

David P. Matarazzo died after state troopers pepper sprayed and restrained him when he allegedly refused to drop a chair. Matarazzo had reportedly yelled threats from his front lawn after returning from a party at about 10:30 p.m. Two troopers responded after Matarazzo's wife called police and said her husband was holding a rock and waving a folding chair. Matarazzo allegedly refused to drop the chair and told the troopers, "You have to kill me," according to state police spokesman Greg Shipley. The troopers pepper sprayed Matarazzo, handcuffed him and washed his eyes with water from a garden hose, then noticed he was having trouble breathing. Matarazzo was pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m. According to Troy Powers, an attorney who'd represented Matarazzo in workers-compensation claims, said Matarazzo, who stood 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 550 pounds, was hobbled by injuries and ill health so much that he could not have been a threat to the troopers.