TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Police Department (TPD) said it is investigating the in-custody death of a man who was fatally hit by a car after being arrested.
Police said a man, identified as Zachary Groff, 35, was being arrested on charges related to an ongoing investigation on the evening of Oct. 7 near North Ashley Drive and East Whiting Street.
WATCH: Tampa Police ID handcuffed man hit, killed by car; legal expert weighs in
In a press conference, Wednesday, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said it around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, there was an armed burglary that happened near the 100 block of south Havana.
According to the Bercaw, the suspect was in the drivers seat and is reported to have taken a bag with a gun in it.
A 'Be On The Lookout' alert was issued, and TPD said they found Groff to be person of interest at MacDill Park on the Riverwalk.
WATCH: Press conference with Tampa PD
When officers asked for the his identification, Groff reportedly pulled out crack cocaine.
TPD said the officers arrested him on a narcotics charge, and also found a knife on the Groff as well.
While talking with the Groff, authorities said the he was making concerning statements about not wanting to go back to jail saying quote, "I just got out of jail today...I’m so scared… Please please don’t take me back to jail."
In the Body Worn Camera footage TPD released, you could also hear Groff talking about hurting himself, saying, "I’m going to die tonight — I’m going to kill myself because of this arrest."
Soon after, Groff is seen running away from the officers while still handcuffed.
According to police, while Groff was running, an officer used a taser on him, and he then fell onto the road, where he was struck by a vehicle and died on the scene.
"A taser, the intention is non-lethal force, and nobody could force what was going to happen," said Bercaw. "This was 8:15 at night, and if you’re familiar with this area on Ashley, it’s a dead end. There is typically no traffic there. It’s not something that they were expecting, and it’s unfortunate, the outcome. Again, it was not the outcome that anybody wanted."
TPD’s policy states, when using a taser the “environmental factors” need to be taken into consideration to avoid, “serious injury.”
It also states, that an officer should not use a taser on a “ handcuffed subject unless exigent, aggravated circumstances exist.”
"Right now, there is somebody that is suspected of an armed auto burglary, they had already recovered a knife off of him, he had made threats to harm himself and harm others, and now he was escaping from police custody, so now they’re making split second decision out there to keep our community safe."
"I have never heard of someone who was handcuffed needing to be tased," said Jeffrey Swartz, a law and safety expert.
Swartz has decades of legal experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney, judge and most recently a professor at Cooley Law School.
"My experience tells me that the issue is going to be whether it was excessive force to use a taser from a distance while chasing someone, knowing that person is getting close to a street on which there may be traffic," said Swartz.
He said the police department should prepare for the legal ramifications that could come.
"This particular person had not committed a violent crime as far as we know, and even if it was, they had him in custody," said Swartz. "This was not an attempt to put someone into custody. He was in custody. He was handcuffed. The negligence that the police department is going to have is how did he manage to be in a position to run away.
Chief Bercaw said none of the officers have a history of use-of-force discipline. And all four of them are under administrative review, per protocol.
Bercaw said all four officers are under administrative review, per protocol — and an internal investigation will take place to see if they complied with all department policies and procedures.
TPD said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will take the lead on the in-custody death investigation, and the Tampa Police Department Traffic Homicide Unit will investigate the crash.
FDLE sent Tampa Bay 28 a statement:
"At the request of the Tampa Police Department, FDLE is investigating an in-custody death that occurred on October 7th. Our investigation is ongoing and we do not have additional information to provide at this time."
This is an active investigation.
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