(NY, USA) Ballston Spa man dies after being tased by police

BALLSTON SPA – A 43-year-old village man died early Sunday morning after he was tased during an altercation with six police officers, police said.

Daniel C. Satre, of 130 Saratoga Ave., was yelling in the street just before 11:00 p.m. Saturday, then scuffled with the officers who tried to arrest him for disorderly conduct, police said.

"It was like a switch (flipped)," said neighbor Bob Sabin, who had a beer with Satre earlier in the night. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was ranting and raving and making no sense at all."

Two village police officers, two state troopers, and two Saratoga County Sheriff’s deputies tried to subdue Satre over the course of several minutes, police said. All six suffered minor injuries.

"The subject was tased prior to being taken into custody, and continued to be combative toward all officers," Ballston Spa Police Chief Charles Koenig said.

Members of the village police department and State Police deployed their Tasers multiple times in an effort to take Satre into custody, police said.

"A short time later, the subject was handcuffed and became unresponsive," Koenig said. Satre was pronounced dead at the hospital at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

A neighbor’s cell phone video, obtained by NewsChannel 13, appears to show part of the altercation. The video is dark, but officers are heard repeatedly telling someone to get on the ground.

"Do they have to tase him that much?" a woman asks during the video. A man responds, "They’re going to do it regardless. He’s fighting back." Later, the woman says, "They’re going to kill him."

Several neighbors on Saratoga Ave. told NewsChannel 13 they believe the officers used excessive force on Satre, whose blood is visible in the grass outside a vacant home.

"They were beating on him, like, physically beating on him and tasing him," said neighbor George Goss, who told reporters he witnessed the incident. "They tased him multiple times."

An autopsy will determine Satre’s cause of death, and whether he had any drugs in his system, police said. No officers are facing disciplinary action. The investigation is continuing.

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