A Salt Lake City attorney on Friday released a summary of a 911 call made to Washington County authorities from the wife of Brian Cardall, who died Tuesday after a Hurricane police officer deployed a Taser on him in southern Utah.

Peter Stirba, who is representing the Hurricane Police Department in the case, said 911 recordings indicate that Cardall was "reported by his wife and another witness as being uncontrollable and displaying otherwise highly irrational behavior, such as repeatedly running in and out of traffic on a major highway and screaming unintelligibly."

The family of Brian Cardall is disputing Stirba's account of the 911 call, saying he omitted "numerous highly significant facts" about Anna Cardall's phone call to Washington County dispatchers on June 9.

"While Mr. Stirba may have provided his interpretation of the recordings in his Friday afternoon news release, we feel he has omitted numerous highly significant facts which we feel the public should know," the family's statement reads.

Stirba's statement says the 911 call from Anna Cardall lasted more than 12 minutes and ended when the officers arrived on scene. She told dispatchers that she locked the couple's 2-year-old daughter in their car and that she took the car keys away from Brian Cardall, Stirba said.

Anna Cardall told dispatchers she was scared and that Brian Cardall had "full blown lost it," according to Stirba's statement. Anna Cardall told dispatchers

that her husband had taken off his clothing and that she was frightened he was going to be hit by a car. She said she was worried about how her husband would behave toward people in vehicles that had pulled over to the side of the road to help, Stirba's statement reads.

When police arrived on the scene, officers told a nude Cardall to "get down on the ground" over 20 times, Stirba said. He claimed Cardall did not get down and screamed to officers "this is a standoff, don't shoot."

According to The Spectrum , the St. George newspaper, Lorry Stratton, a motorist who witnessed the incident, said Cardall was nude and carrying his clothing in his hands. Stratton said that Cardall took a step toward a Hurricane police officer, then the officer shot him with a Taser.

Stirba's statement says a Hurricane police officer deployed a Taser on Cardall after giving 42 seconds of "verbal commands" for Cardall to get down on the ground.

Following the commands, "You can hear that Mr. Cardall is subsequently restrained and medical assistance standing by at the scene is cleared to enter the scene and attend to Mr. Cardall," Stirba said.

Stirba said that after the officer used the Taser and Cardall dropped to the ground, the officer claimed that Cardall "came right at me."

Stirba called the death of Cardall tragic. He said the Hurricane police officer was in a difficult and complex situation, but the recordings indicate the officer used a Taser in an appropriate manner.

Cardall's family said they plan to discuss the 911 recordings with media after Brian Cardall's Monday funeral.

"We appreciate Mr. Stirba's expression of concern that Brian's death was tragic for everyone involved. We can assure you that we who have lost a husband, father, son, brother and a friend feel the brunt of the tragedy," the family's statement reads.

"Please let us mourn in peace, pay appropriate tribute to Brian and bury him on Monday. Following the funeral, we'll find an appropriate time to release the recordings for media and public scrutiny."

In a prior interview with The Salt Lake Tribune , the father of Brian Cardall said he believes a Taser should not have been used on his son.

"Absolutely, unequivocally a Taser should have never been used in this instance," said Duane Cardall, an editorial director at Salt Lake City TV station KSL. Duane Cardall said, to his knowledge, his son died within moments of being hit with the Taser.

Duane Cardall said his son, a promising scientist with a second child on the way, had recently been diagnosed as bipolar. Brian Cardall rarely exhibited signs of his condition, his father said.

Duane Cardall said his son was driving home from a family wedding in Salt Lake City with his wife when he became disoriented.

The Cardalls pulled the vehicle over to the side of State Road 59 near Hurricane so Brian could take some medication. His confusion continued and he left the car, Duane Cardall said. Anna Cardall worried her husband could be hit by traffic and called 911 to ask police for help, Duane Cardall said.

He said Anna Cardall, who is six months pregnant with the couple's second child, was never threatened or in danger because of her husband's behavior.

Stirba's statement is the first comment from the Hurricane Police Department on what occurred at the scene of Cardall's death.

"The officer involved in this case was properly and extensively trained in the use and deployment of his Taser. Officers are trained to use a reasonable amount of force necessary to address a perceived threat, and they are trained that deploying a Taser is a nonlethal use of force. We are confident that after all the facts and circumstances are known, the officer's actions will be determined to be reasonable and appropriate," Stirba's statement reads.

Despite Striba's claim the Hurricane police officer took the correct action in deploying a Taser, at least one mental health advocate questions whether Cardall's mental health condition was taken into account before the Taser was used.

The Hurricane Police Department has not yet received the crisis intervention training the state's mental health advocacy organization sees as critical, said Sherri Wittwer, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Utah.

"We have a very strong program," Witter said. "We just need more departments to participate in it and make sure we expand our reach in communities statewide."

She believes the Taser incident reinforces the need for law enforcement training on mental health issues. Modeled after a Memphis program, the Utah training is run by the Salt Lake City Police Department.

"We know law enforcement have an exceptionally difficult job," she said. "This kind of training helps them to more effectively deal with the person who is having a mental health crisis."

As controversy continues to swirl about what exactly happened before Cardall was shot with a Taser, his family and friends are remembering him as a doting father who was a scientist on the cusp of a great career.

The Cardall family's statement said listening to the 911 recordings has been difficult.

"We have listened to those tapes with great interest but also with extraordinary sadness," the statement reads.

Reporter Julia Lyon contributed to this report.

mrogers@sltrib.com