Current Events > Man douses self in hand sanitizer, is set on fire when police tase him

(+) Yeah! (+)

Police video released Friday shows a man on fire after rubbing hand sanitizer on his skin when a police officer used a stun gun on him at a New York police station in October.

As part of its investigation in Jones' death, the attorney general's office made the security footage public. An investigation is launched after any death involving an officer under state law, according to Fox News.

On October 30, Jones walked into the police station from a bar close by, according to The Times Union. In the security footage, Jones is seen taking his hoodie and undershirt off, throwing a shoe at a table, taking items out of his pockets, and knocking a jug of hand sanitizer over as three police officers watch him. Then, a few minutes later, Jones picks up the large hand sanitizer and squirts it on his back and head. But when an officer uses his Taser to subdue him, there's a flash as Jones bursts into flames.

Jason Jones, 29, is seen with flames on his upper back and head, rolling on the floor in the Catskill police station lobby, according to security footage released by the state attorney's general's office. Jones can be seen rubbing his own head to put out the flames after the three officers in the room left.

After the flames were out, one police officer comes back and appears to pat Jones' upper back and head to assist him, the security footage shows.

Jones was on fire for approximately 25 seconds, appearing to have burns on his upper back, the area a bright red in the security footage. He was in intensive care for six weeks at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse and taken off life support in December, according to Jones' family attorney, The Times Union reported. He died on December 15.

The village police has a use-of-force policy mandating officers to account for "environmental conditions or exigent circumstances" before using anything "more than a firm grip," Fox News reported.

The Times Union reported that the officers were apparently unaware that hand sanitizer is combustible. The chief described the incident as "horrible."

Police Chief Dave Darling said officers in Catskill, about 33 miles (53 kilometers) south of Albany, were familiar with Jones from previous encounters and were likely afraid he was going to hurt himself.

Jones had been a standout track and basketball athlete at Catskill High School more than a decade ago, The Times Union reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

R.I.P.

A shocking way to be cleansed by fire

Times Union has the video of it on their youtube channel and the reaction from the cops is sickening. I get that they didn't know he would go up and flames, but the fire wasn't that big and they ran away and one sat there and watched. WTF? When they came back, it's not like they had a fire extinguisher either, they had nothing to stop the fire. They ran and did nothing and one watched as the guy put it out himself. Thats fucked up.

Also I'm kind of shocked he died from that since as I said, it didn't look that bad. I mean it looked bad, but it looked survivable even with the cops doing nothing.

Ban stun guns/tasers

LeperMessiahXX posted...

Also I'm kind of shocked he died from that since as I said, it didn't look that bad. I mean it looked bad, but it looked survivable even with the cops doing nothing.

I think lung damage from superheated air is a concern for burns around the head and neck like that but I'm far from positive.

Shablagoo posted...

The Times Union reported that the officers were apparently unaware that hand sanitizer is combustible

Either they're the dumbest mfers ever or they knew and wanted it to happen.

DrizztLink posted...

I think lung damage from superheated air is a concern for burns around the head and neck like that but I'm far from positive.

If fire gets in the airways, the lungs close up to prevent damage. However by the time the airways relax, you've suffocated

At least that was what I was told by an OG CSI episode that left a young me terrified of fire breathing

Unsugarized_Foo posted...

If fire gets in the airways,

Not the fire, the air heated by the fire.

Try to breath through your flame helmet, air gets very very hot, goes in your lungs, burns the shit out of them.

CommonStar posted...

Either they're the dumbest mfers ever or they knew and wanted it to happen.

I think they are dumb, their reactions were genuine. The scattered like scared guinea pigs.

I want to show you one cop. This is the only one who stayed in the room, and this is what he did. I left a portion of the guys back to show how close he was as he did nothing but watch.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/1/6/AAQo0JAACyQE.png

That pink in the bottom right is the back of the guy.

Shablagoo posted...

Police Chief Dave Darling said officers in Catskill, about 33 miles (53 kilometers) south of Albany, were familiar with Jones from previous encounters and were likely afraid he was going to hurt himself.

"We were afraid he would hurt himself, so we killed him"

I just saw the video. Something I am sure I can't post here. They just left him to burn for a while. Also it didn't seem like they needed to taze him .

They better be held accountable. Mistake or not, their actions directly resulted in his death.

They knew hand sanitizer was combustible and intentionally lit him on fire. This was no accident

CommonStar posted...

They better be held accountable. Mistake or not, their actions directly resulted in his death.

They won't be.

LeperMessiahXX posted...

Also I'm kind of shocked he died from that since as I said, it didn't look that bad. I mean it looked bad, but it looked survivable even with the cops doing nothing.

25 seconds is a long time to be in fire. I'll have to watch the video but why did they have to taze him anyway. 3 cops couldn't subdue a drunk covered in hand sanitizer?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Whether you do or don't believe this its still a bad look for cops.

"They aren't psychopaths... they're just dumber than a sack of hammers."

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I mean...

I saw this on Facebook and the laughter reaction and love reaction were leading the responses. I hate boot lickers.

Shoot a person, police get in trouble. Use a taser on a person and they get in trouble.

<img src="https://i.imgflip.com/43hdvm.jpg">

Shablagoo posted...

Jason Jones, 29, is seen with flames on his upper back and head, rolling on the floor in the Catskill police station lobby, according to security footage released by the state attorney's general's office. Jones can be seen rubbing his own head to put out the flames after the three officers in the room left.

So they just let the dude burn and left. Why are cops so evil

Axiom posted...

So they just let the dude burn and left. Why are cops so evil

I watched the video.
The cops are actually acting pretty tame in this one.
I am surprised they waited so long to subdue him.
They could have cuffed him, if for nothing else disorderly conduct, and used that to try get him the help he needs.

I don't believe the cops were actually trying to light the guy up.
But they might have wanted to take the fire accelerant into account.

In this situation, I honestly think the cops had no idea what to do.
I won't go as far as to say they were trying to execute him with fire.

Total side note: But in NYS it can be considered a code violation to have hand sanitizer around things that are flammable. A firefighter actually told me that in passing well before the pandemic.

Anyway, this really is a shitty situtation.

LeperMessiahXX posted...

not like they had a fire extinguisher either

Fire extinguishers really shouldn't be used on people, given they can do damage to the parts of you not on fire.

CanuckCowboy posted...

Whether you do or don't believe this its still a bad look for cops.

"They aren't psychopaths... they're just dumber than a sack of hammers."

The simple analysis from this is that they are not trained to save, only to stop.