Lady Gaga's bodyguard killed in police taser attack

Lady Gaga's bodyguard killed in police taser attack

SINGAPORE - He cut an imposing figure next to celebrities, shielding them from overzealous fans.

Standing at 1.98m and weighing 127kg, Mr Norman Oosterbroek's presence was so intimidating that not many fans took a chance with him.

Mr Oosterbroek, 43, nicknamed the Dutch Giant, was a bodyguard to celebrities such as singers Lady Gaga, Jay Z and Beyonce, and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

But he met a bizarre end on Monday night when he was tasered by the police when he allegedly broke into a Miami mansion, reported Miami Herald. He collapsed at the scene and died soon after at a hospital.

The owners of the mansion, Mr and Mrs Markus and Christiane Jung, had reported the intruder after Mrs Jung heard a noise outside and found Mr Oosterbroek on their property.

The police arrived and found the bodyguard fighting with Mr Jung, Mail Online reported.

Reports said they saw him ingest an unknown substance during the fight before he violently resisted arrest. He appeared to have been returning home when he wrongly ended up outside the Jung mansion.

"He was highly violent, uncontrollable and obviously wasn't stable," said Ms Nancy Perez, spokesman for Miami-Dade police, which is investigating the incident.

It said the father of two had been in and out of rehab for years.

He and his family were renting a US$500,000 (S$639,000) home next to the Jungs.

Toxicology results are not out yet, but the police said his elevated body temperature was consistent with someone under the influence of cocaine.

According to the Herald, he had been in and out of rehab for years.

Many hoped his problems were behind him in 2009 when he married girlfriend April McDaniel in a lavish ceremony at New York's Botanical Garden.

The pair and their two children split their time between the city and South Florida where they were renting a four-bedroom, three-bathroom $500,000 home next to the Jungs.

It is the second time in recent months that Miami police have been involved in a taser death.

Colombian-born Israel Hernandez-Llach died after police shocked him as he ran away from officers who caught him spray-painting the wall of a shuttered McDonald's.

Police would not divulge how many times Oosterbroek was struck on Monday night or how many officers were involved in his arrest, according to the report.

After beginning his career as a guard to Mandela, Oosterbroek went on to form his own private security firm named RAD.

Mrs Jung said they hardly knew their neighbour and were still traumatized by Monday night's events.

"Our family needs time to heal. This was really, really horrible and we can't talk about it now," Mrs Jung told the paper.

'I can tell you that Pinecrest police took very good care of us. It was horrifying.'

'We're still awaiting toxicology reports,' Det. Javier Baez, a Miami Dade Police Department spokesman said.

'It's possible that he may have been under some type of a narcotics. Again, he was observed swallowing, ingesting some kind of substance, unknown substance that is.'

Mr Oosterbroek had become one of the most professional and discreet celebrity confidantes in a business where bodyguards are often asked to sign confidentiality agreements and he had been photographed with stars all over the world.

Three years ago, at a Jay Z concert in Washington, US, a man dared to jump onstage and saunter towards the rapper.

The fan was caught on video being grabbed by Mr Oosterbroek who tossed him about 3m off stage, breaking both his legs.


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