LA Police officers filmed laughing after tasering mentally ill man who died in custody

Disturbing footage has shown US police officers laughing after they shot a mentally ill man with a taser, before he died in custody.

Vachel Howard was arrested on June 4, 2012, after he was allegedly driving under the influence.

During his time in the Los Angeles Police Department, the 56-year-old grandfather was strip-searched.

Howard reportedly told the arresting officers he suffered from schizophrenia.

Years later the CCTV which filmed what happened inside the police station has been released.

The video was the centre of a legal claim that led to the City of Los Angeles paying $2.85m in a wrongful death claim last year.

The footage shows police lead Howard inside the station. He is sat down on a bench and handcuffed to it.

Howard becomes upset and waves to get someone’s attention.

He is then uncuffed and led to the nurses office.

This is when an altercation breaks out off camera.

It was alleged he refused medical treatment and started to fling his arms wildly as officers tried to restrain him.

Howard is then seen on camera being tackled by four police officers, and is shot by a taser in the back.

He is slammed to the ground and one of the officers appears to put him into a chokehold.

Not long after, Howard stops moving.

According to ProPublica the police officers smiled and laughed with each other as Howard lay unconscious.

Four minutes after he was first seen motionless, another staff member – believed to be a doctor – can be seen trying to revive Howard.

Howard was reportedly worked on for nine minutes before emergency crews arrived.

He was pronounced dead in hospital, a coroner’s report said Howard had hemorrhages and fractured cartilage in his neck.

CNN reported officers claimed the chokehold was applied for a few seconds as the taser was not effective.

It was claimed Howard tried to bite a police officer at the scene and he was considered a ‘deadly threat’.

The city’s police commission rejected this claim as the officer broke protocol by applying the chokehold.

The death was initially deemed a homicide, however the city’s District Attorney, did not press charges against the offending officer.

Howard had cocaine in his system when he died.

His family considered him a “gentle giant”.