Officials with the State Patrol have released video of a tazer incident last January that ended in the death of a 29-year-old motorist. Mark Backlund of Fridley had just crashed his minivan on 694 in New Brighton. Video from a squad car dashcam shows state troopers approaching Backlund's minivan to see if he's OK.
The video appears to show Backlund punching a trooper, as authorities and witnesses say he did. He is then tazed three times, before he was handcuffed and placed in an ambulance. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. A medical examiner found that "acute cocaine intoxication'' was the main factor in Backlund's death.
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