Joshua Taylor (l), and Brandon Dingman
It’s been nearly a year since the death of Jared Lakey, 28, but now two cops are accused of murdering him.
According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Officers Joshua Taylor, 25, and Brandon Dingman, 34, responded to a call on July 4, 2019. Lakey had allegedly been acting in what the agency described as a “disorderly way.” According to KIRO7, the officers responded to the scene after a call reported that a naked man was running down the street and screaming. Authorities claimed that he didn’t comply with the commands from police; Taylor and Dingman used their Taser “multiple times.” How many times? More than 50, according to court records obtained by The New York Times. Authorities reportedly said the officers went over the line.
“Shortly thereafter, Lakey stopped breathing and became unresponsive,” said the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI). “Lakey was transported to the hospital in Healdton and then to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City, which is where he died.”
Taylor and Dingman were officers with the Wilson Police Department. The Carter County Sheriff’s Office asked that the OSBI participate in their investigation after the Tasing; the OSBI submitted their report to the District Attorney’s Office, which in turn issued warrants for the arrests of Taylor and Dingman.
“The footage reveals numerous instances of both officers using their X26P tasers to send electrical shocks through (the victim’s) body in an apparent attempt to persuade him to put his hands behind his back as he lay on the ground,” an OSBI agent’s affidavit said, according to The Daily Ardmoreite. “(The victim) is tased numerous times while merely lying naked in the ditch, presumably for not rolling onto his stomach and complying with the officers’ commands to ‘Put your hands behind your back.'”
They are now charged with second-degree murder, and turned themselves in. They bonded out of the Carter County Jail on $250,000.
“The death of Mr. Lakey saddens us all,” Ryan Hunnicutt, an attorney of record for both defendants, told the Times. “We are confident that the legal system will provide an opportunity for all the facts to be known and look forward to our day in court.”
Jared Lakey, GoFundMe screengrab
The Wilson Police Department did not immediately response to a Law&Crime request for comment.
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