The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing the death of a Bledsoe County, Tennessee, man who collapsed Sunday after being taken into custody by a police K-9.
Bledsoe County sheriff's deputies went to a home on Brockdell Road on Sunday to serve warrants on Chad Songer, TBI spokesperson Susan Niland said in an email.
The deputies attempted to serve the papers outside the home, she said.
"A brief foot pursuit ensued and a K-9 was utilized to capture Songer," Niland said. "While attempting to subdue Songer, he collapsed and became unresponsive."
Songer, 41, was taken to a regional hospital where he was pronounced dead, she said.
Songer's sister, Stacey Songer, told WRCB-TV Channel 3 Monday that the family believes the apprehension by the police dog was what killed her brother. Stacey Songer lives next door and was at the scene Sunday. She said when she saw him, her brother looked "lifeless."
Bledsoe County Sheriff Jimmy Morris said Tuesday that he didn't know what happened to Songer to cause his collapse.
Morris talked about details from the incident and said Songer had a wood-splitting maul that he refused to put down when officers on the scene told him they were there to serve warrants.
"My guys went out on patrol in the Brockdell area, and we've had active warrants on Chad Songer for a pretty good while for violation of probation and child support," Morris said.
"They came in contact with the guy and pulled in to a road called Brock Hollow and called central dispatch to verify if the warrants were still good," he said. "They pulled back down to [Songer's] house and he was busting wood with a splitting maul."
A splitting maul is a heavy, ax-shaped or wedge-shaped tool with a long handle used for splitting logs.
The officers told Songer to put the maul down and that he was under arrest, Morris said, but Songer was uncooperative and yelled at the officers.
"Then he proceeds to come at the K-9 handler with the splitting maul. They released the K-9 and he [Songer] throws the maul at the officer and the K-9, and he goes to running," Morris said.
The sheriff said the police dog pursued Songer and allegedly took him down to the ground by his leg. Officers were then able to place Songer in handcuffs, he said.
An ambulance was summoned to the scene, which is protocol when a dog is used to apprehend a suspect, so Songer was waiting for medical personnel to arrive when he started becoming ill, Morris said.
"They [deputies] were sitting there talking to him, and he looked over at one of them and he said, 'I feel like I'm going to pass out,'" the sheriff said. "They removed his cuffs from behind and put them up front, and they said they could just see him going down."
That's when Songer collapsed and became unresponsive, Morris said. Autopsy results should show the cause of death but he said he didn't expect the dog to have anything to do with it.
The investigation is continuing, according to TBI officials. The TBI was requested by 12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor. There was no word on when results from the autopsy were expected.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.
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