Evgeniy Lagoda

Less-than-lethal force

Evgeniy Lagoda -- an engineer who didn't speak any English -- was coming into JFK on a JetBlue flight from Moscow for work when he had a seizure on the plane. When Lagoda came to, he was bleeding from the mouth and noticeably disoriented, sweating profusely, and his eyes were blank. When the plane landed, the PA police responded, but Lagoda was disoriented and combative after suffering from a seizure. The first cop to arrive tried to tell Lagoda in English to calm down, but -- not understanding English -- he didn't, so the officer pepper-sprayed him, then punched Lagoda in the face with his fist, knocking Lagoda to the ground. The first responding officer struggled to successfully handcuff Lagoda, and ended up on top of Lagoda. More PA police came, and they also punched Lagoda in an attempt to restrain him. The officers rolled Lagoda onto his side and noticed that Lagoda's neck was blue, and he was dead.