Teresa Stepzinski
The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
June 23--A Valdosta man died Wednesday shortly after a Ware County sheriff's deputy briefly shocked him with a Taser when the man attacked a paramedic and firefighter trying to help him after his pickup truck crashed into a utility pole.
Otto Kolberg, 55, died shortly after being taken to Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, county Sheriff Randy Royal told the Times-Union.
Earlier, Kolberg was driving a 2001 Toyota Tundra that crashed into a utility pole and tree along U.S. 84 between Valdosta and Waycross, Royal said.
Royal said Kolberg became combative when county emergency medical personnel tried to help him after the crash. He bit a female emergency medical technician on the hand and kicked her in the chest. Kolberg then hit, kicked and bit a paramedic and firefighter who tried to restrain him, Royal said.
At that point, a sheriff's deputy tried to stop Kolberg from hurting the emergency personnel or further injure himself. The deputy repeatedly ordered Kolberg to stop fighting, Royal said.
Kolberg kept fighting and when he tried to bite a firefighter, the deputy used his Taser to deliver a brief shock to Kolberg, Royal said.
Royal said Kolberg continued to resist but then collapsed and became unresponsive. The emergency personnel administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation to him at the scene and while taking him by ambulance to the hospital.
Kolberg died in the emergency room at 11:42 a.m. An autopsy was being performed today at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime laboratory.
Royal has asked the GBI to investigate Kolberg's death.
For more information, check back with Jacksonville.com and Friday's Times-Union.
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