Video shows officers run away after tasered man bursts into flames

Two Catskill police officers ran out of their station's lobby and shut the door behind them when a 29-year-old man they were trying to subdue burst into flames in front of them after one of the officers fired a Taser at him.

A third officer involved in the fatal encounter also ran away, moving toward the front door of the station, where he appeared to stand around the corner of an interior wall rather than rush to the aid of the man who was burning in front of him.

Jason Jones, who had doused himself with flammable hand sanitizer seconds before the officer fired his Taser, fell to the ground and was left to use his hands to try and put out the flames that had engulfed his upper body and head. He died last month after spending 47 days on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.

Surveillance video of the disturbing encounter was released Friday by the state attorney general's office. That office took over the investigation under a 2015 Executive Order issued by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that empowers the attorney general to investigate fatal encounters between police and unarmed civilians.

The video raises questions about the officers' actions, including whether they followed their training and protocols.

A law enforcement official who has extensive experience training police officers on the use of force — and who spoke to the Times Union on the condition of not being identified because he is not involved in the Catskill investigation — said that his officers are instructed to never use a Taser on an individual who may have been recently exposed to a flammable liquid, including hand sanitizer, which contains alcohol.

He said the officers also should have immediately shifted their actions to trying to assist Jones when he caught fire, likening it to the imperative to pull a suspect from a burning car if they crash during a vehicle pursuit.

"Once the threat has been stopped, you don't just say, 'I'm going to let that person burn,'" the official said.

The video shows the officer who fired the Taser walking back through the interior station door into the lobby and appearing to try to help Jones, who by that time had managed to put out the flames.

The video shows that officer briefly try to pull Jones' arm behind his back, and then stop. Jones remains on his knees and appears to be in physical distress as he continued speaking with the officers. There is no audio, but the officers appear to be trying to ask Jones to remain calm.

A few minutes later, a civilian who did not know Jones — but had seen the incident through a window — is shown on the video entering the station and trying to console Jones, hugging him. That man stays in the station with Jones, who appears distressed but remained calm as the officers are seen speaking to him as they wait for paramedics to arrive. The clock and date on the station video are not accurate — the incident occurred after midnight on Oct. 31.
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