Man dies after being stunned by deputies

A Volusia County man hit twice by deputies with a stun gun this week dies, sparking a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation. 

Investigators said deputies used the stun gun on Adam Disalvo twice to gain control of him during a trespassing and possible burglary call.

It's not the first stun gun related death in Volusia County.

Jim and Theresa Firth saw everything unfold Wednesday morning in front of their Beachwood Drive home in Ormond-By-The-Sea.

Volusia County sheriff's deputies were called out for a well-being check after Disalvo called 911 claiming he was robbed and there was a scheme to get him.

"He wasn't fighting, he was just bummed out that that was going on. You could tell. They weren't rough with him," said neighbor Jim Firth.
 
According to the incident report though, Disalvo began violently fighting the deputies, who by this time decided he needed to be admitted to a hospital for a mental evaluation.

"The police were trying to calm him down, but didn't seem to be able to calm this man down," said neighbor Theresa Firth.

That's when the stun gun was used three times.

According to the incident report, about 30 minutes later, Disalvo began looking around and then suddenly stopped breathing.

But not before he told deputies he did two lines of cocaine and took several Hydrocodone pills.

He was rushed to Florida Hospital Oceanside in Ormond Beach where he died Thursday.

Disalvo's death following the stun gun incident is not the first here in Volusia County. In fact, there have been two others: one involving Volusia County's Sheriff's Office and the other, DeLand Police Department.

According to an Amnesty International report looking at stun gun deaths involving law enforcement, Frederick Stevens Webber died after he was shocked two times by Volusia County deputies in September 2002. In March 2005, Willie Michael Towns was shocked three times by DeLand police officers and then died.

In both cases, the two men were found to have cocaine in their systems.

FDLE was already looking into this latest case and will continue to do so.