The man shot and killed by a Beachwood police officer in July near the High Velocity Bar and Grill had blood alcohol above the legal limit, Ocean County Executive Assistant Prosecutor Michel A. Paulhus said.
The autopsy on 52-year-old Mark Tanouye was performed in July, he said, but today Paulhus released details about the blood alcohol levels of the man shot by Beachwood Police outside the Route 9 bar.
Tanouye had blood alcohol level of 0.092, Paulhus said. The legal limit is .08.
Beachwood Sgt. Bruce Harris was in uniform in a marked police cruiser when he responded to a 10:50 p.m. call in July about a man "creating a disturbance" in the parking lot of the sports bar on Route 166, Paulhus has said.
Harris got out of his patrol car and confronted Tanouye in the sports bar parking lot. Tanouye was carrying a .25 caliber handgun, Paulhus has said.
"He ignored repeated commands to drop his weapon," Paulhus said at the time. "The officer discharged his weapon and the male suffered fatal injuries."
Tanouye was pronounced dead at the scene. His last known address was in Beachwood, Paulhus said.
Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said previously the state Attorney General's Office was notified about the shooting. Paulhus said today they were still getting the case ready for the attorney general.
Poorly written article.. .09... is like 3 drinks.... maybe 4...
People keep leaving the "waving a gun around" part out.
it doesn't matter what blood alcohol was if waving a gun... that is the point... poorly written article.. meaning blood alcohol was meaningless...
And yes, the article used a poor choice of wording... maybe if they just used the wording that his BAC showed "impairment" rather than "over the legal [driving] limit"...
On another related note, bulldad, I'm SURE you had front row seats to the entire extravaganza that night, I'm SURE you hadn't been drinking, and don't have an opinion that's biased or subjective AT ALL. Everyone who hangs out in a bar parking lot, late at night, probably not even paying attention, smoking, taking a break FROM DRINKING, usually has the best, most well informed interpretation of the situation. He had been previously drinking and was waving a gun. You get what you ask for at that point. He clearly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed; you can't blame anyone else for his shortcomings.
Pepper Spray would not help the situation as the guy still has the gun and could/would now be blindly firing. Tasers, even though NJ does not have them, would not work either, as an electrical shock going through the persons body would cause their hands to clench. If his finger was on the trigger that would cause the weapon to fire wildly either causing the suspect to shoot himself anyway, or to shoot a bystander. All of this would be the officer's fault in the end, as he is justified to shoot him and end the threat, rather than use OC or Tasers and risk injuring someone else. All of this needs to be considered by an officer in a fraction of a second when responding to a situation like this, by the way.