The identity of the man who died after a DeKalb police officer shot him with a Taser on Thursday was released Friday.
Troy Lee Robinson, 33, of DeKalb County, died after fleeing on foot after police had stopped a car in which he was a passenger, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
An autopsy Friday by the DeKalb Medical Examiner indicated “Robinson died from severe head and neck trauma sustained in a fall” when climbing over a wall, according to the GBI which is investigating the death.
Robinson had an injury in his back which appeared to be from the Taser. Officer Casey Benton fired the shock weapon after Robinson climbed a chain-link fence, the GBI reported.
“Robinson attempted to climb over a cement wall and fell to the ground below,” the GBI said. “Robinson was unconscious and transported by ambulance to Grady Hospital, where he died.”
The foot chase happened after police had pulled over a vehicle for a tag violation near an apartment complex on Flat Shoals Road. The driver acknowledged having a weapon in the vehicle, and the officers asked him to step out while they secured it, said GBI Agent Scott Dutton.
Robinson, a passenger, then fled on foot, prompting the chase, Dutton said. At least part of the chase was captured by cell phone video recorder, Dutton said.
Police were involved in a robbery suppression detail when they conducted the traffic stop near the Highlands of East Atlanta complex on Flat Shoals Road, DeKalb Assistant Police Chief Brian Harris said.
Dutton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, however, that the driver of the car was not arrested. He also said Robinson did not appear to have any outstanding warrants or charges against him.
Agents are still trying to determine why Robinson fled and what precisely happened during the chase. GBI agents were interviewing witnesses from the apartments and looking for more video of the chase and aftermath, Dutton said.
The length of a police-involved death investigation is hard to predict. It could last 30 to as many as 90 days, Dutton said. “Obviously in cases like this, GBI will expedite everything it can,” he said. “But it is not a fast-moving investigation. I know there are a lot of witnesses being interviewed.”
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