Frantic Oklahoma mom warned Omaha police that her son, kicked off bus, was mentally ill. So they tasered him to death

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine has "serious concerns" about whether excessive force was used on Zachary Bearheels, who was pronounced dead on arrival at the Nebraska Medical Center after being tasered by officers of the Omaha Police Department. His desperate mother had warned Omaha police and begged them to take him to the bus station or a crisis center: Kleine wants to know how many tasers were used on Bearheels at once at Bucky's, where he was surrounded by up to 20(!) cop cars.



From the Omaha World-Herald:

     Henry Barstow, 36, was among those at the Bucky’s at 60th and Center Streets.

     The hour that elapsed between officers first encountering Bearheels and when he was stunned left “plenty of time” for the police to call a mental health professional to the gas station for guidance, Barstow said.

     Bearheels’ mother, Renita Chalepah of Oklahoma, has raised questions about how police handled her son, whom she said suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He was in Omaha after being kicked off a bus. He was traveling from his father’s home in South Dakota to his mother’s in Oklahoma. Chalepah said she had been in contact with Omaha police and her son during the day Sunday and had asked police to take him to the bus station or a crisis center. She said police told her they couldn’t place him under emergency care because he wasn’t a threat to himself or others.

Later, on that very day, OPD shocked him to death because he was "acting erratically."