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Police chase, subdue man with stun gun

by David Boyce

Personal troubles seem to have caught up with a man in his early 20s who lacerated himself with scissors and led police on a vigorous 10-minute chase through an Atherton neighborhood on Thursday, September 8.

Police finally subdued him with a stun gun and took him to Stanford Hospital.

The chase on foot started at about 7:30 p.m. on Catalpa Drive after family members called 911. The man climbed fences, jumped into a swimming pool, ran himself full-speed into a French door, and occasionally squared off to confront pursuing officers while smearing blood on his face, said Sgt. Chris Madsen of the Atherton Police Department.

The man, whose identity is being protected under federal medical privacy rules, was admitted to Stanford Hospital for his mental state and for treatment of lacerations, all of which were self-inflicted, said Sgt. Madsen. The man was in Atherton to attend a wake and has a history of mental illness, Sgt. Madsen said he was told by family members.

The man had thrown a plant stand at his sister and during the chase at one point, he yelled to pursuing officers, "Shoot me, shoot me," police said.

Officers eventually cornered him in a yard in the first block of Greenoaks Drive and repeatedly requested that he calm down and let himself be helped, but to no avail, police said.

Because he was "extremely combative" and would not follow police orders, an Atherton officer used an electroshock stun gun, called a taser, to subdue him, police said.

After he went down, the man's sister, Maya Dinola, 28, of New Orleans, who along with other family members had been following police during the chase, attacked the officer who had used the stun gun on her brother, Sgt. Madsen said.

That officer suffered some scrapes and bruises, but no one else was injured, police said.

Ms. Dinola was arrested and jailed, then released on her own recognizance. The District Attorney's Office will decide whether to charge her, police said.