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They love the Tasers...
- Thread starter 74IN
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Mind doing a copy/paste on the text of the article? I don't think it's a copyright issue as long as you leave the link up for the purpose of citing the source. It was just taking forever to load up on my connection so I gave up.
My gut feeling is that there is a lot more to this story than has been reported.
Not defending the young lad, not defending the police.
I just think we are missing some important details before passing judgment.
Not defending the young lad, not defending the police.
I just think we are missing some important details before passing judgment.
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Injured, tasered teen: 'At least I'm alive.'[/FONT]David Edwards and Diane Sweet
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Published: Thursday July 31, 2008[/FONT][/FONT]
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After spending his 17th birthday in a hospital bed with a broken back and foot, Mace Hutchinson is home from the hospital recovering from his harrowing experience.
Discovered underneath an overpass by Ozark police after a 30 foot fall, Mace was then tasered 19 times by authorities who said it was necessary for Mace's safety, and that of the officers who allegedly felt threatened by statements they claim Mace made after the fall.
Sara Sheffield, of KY3 News, the reporter who originally covered Mace's story went to his home to follow up on his progress:
"There's no way that they had to Tase me that many times," he said.
Mace spent his 17th birthday lying in a hospital bed.
"I had a broken back, broken foot."
Nearly two weeks later, he's out of the hospital but still lying in bed, hardly able to move.
"It should be a couple months before I'm able to walk on my own."
His family says what made his situation worse is that his surgery had to be postponed because he had been stunned by Ozark police 19 times.
"At least I'm alive though."
Mace says he still can't remember how he ended up at the bottom of the bridge. He says he knows he didn't willingly jump.
"I know I'm lucky to survive that far of a fall."
Police records say Hutchinson was aggressive with them, and tried to get up and get into traffic. Mace points out that he doesn't weigh much and wonders why an officer didn't just restrain him.
Police also say he yelled threatening remarks about harming officers. Those things combined were why they used the electric stun gun on him.
"He was saying things like, 'Kill cops, shoot cops,' Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset said on July 23.
Mace says he doesn't remember that and certainly doesn't know how it would have been possible, with his injuries, for him to move toward the highway.
"There's no way I could stand up. I had a broken back and a broken foot," he said.
"I definitely want them to get punished, I don't want them to get away with it."
The Ozark Police Department did not return any calls inquiring on the progress of the internal probe of the incident that Police Captain Thomas Rousset told KY3 News, had begun.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Published: Thursday July 31, 2008[/FONT][/FONT]
Print This Email This
After spending his 17th birthday in a hospital bed with a broken back and foot, Mace Hutchinson is home from the hospital recovering from his harrowing experience.
Discovered underneath an overpass by Ozark police after a 30 foot fall, Mace was then tasered 19 times by authorities who said it was necessary for Mace's safety, and that of the officers who allegedly felt threatened by statements they claim Mace made after the fall.
Sara Sheffield, of KY3 News, the reporter who originally covered Mace's story went to his home to follow up on his progress:
"There's no way that they had to Tase me that many times," he said.
Mace spent his 17th birthday lying in a hospital bed.
"I had a broken back, broken foot."
Nearly two weeks later, he's out of the hospital but still lying in bed, hardly able to move.
"It should be a couple months before I'm able to walk on my own."
His family says what made his situation worse is that his surgery had to be postponed because he had been stunned by Ozark police 19 times.
"At least I'm alive though."
Mace says he still can't remember how he ended up at the bottom of the bridge. He says he knows he didn't willingly jump.
"I know I'm lucky to survive that far of a fall."
Police records say Hutchinson was aggressive with them, and tried to get up and get into traffic. Mace points out that he doesn't weigh much and wonders why an officer didn't just restrain him.
Police also say he yelled threatening remarks about harming officers. Those things combined were why they used the electric stun gun on him.
"He was saying things like, 'Kill cops, shoot cops,' Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset said on July 23.
Mace says he doesn't remember that and certainly doesn't know how it would have been possible, with his injuries, for him to move toward the highway.
"There's no way I could stand up. I had a broken back and a broken foot," he said.
"I definitely want them to get punished, I don't want them to get away with it."
The Ozark Police Department did not return any calls inquiring on the progress of the internal probe of the incident that Police Captain Thomas Rousset told KY3 News, had begun.
I agree! Not saying this is the case but there are a lot of "substances" out there that will cause a person to do and say strange things they would normally never do and not remember ever having said or done them. Some of then even cause you to feel no pain after an injury too.
I'm rather curious how someone does not happen to know what prompted them to fall 30 feet. I wonder if this guy was on something when he fell.
The officers probably didn't just restrain the kid because he was allegedly on something. They had no way to know if the kid was armed. I don't think he'd have been much better off if he'd been beaten about the head and neck with a club or blackjack. Do you?
Is there any actual proof other than what this kid says that they actually used the taser 19 times instead of say maybe one or two?
Actually, depending on what drugs (if any) he happened to be on, he could have likely gotten up and danced a jig if he'd wanted to, and probably not feel much of anything as a result. Maybe even adrenaline was enough.
I'm definitely reserving judgement on the situation until we get to see some better coverage and until the investigation gets done.
Wow, you have added so much to the story.
Where was this "alleged". Was he charged with a drug crime?
So if you grab a person on drugs, you are in harms way? Even a little guy like him?
Wow, a 30 foot fall might make a person incoherent? What a news flash.
Thats your "first aid" to an injured person? That's sick.
What nutless wonders. A severely injured person, obviously in shock.
A single person can't hold a small kid with multiple injuries, in need of medical help? Pathetic.
Where was this "alleged". Was he charged with a drug crime?
So if you grab a person on drugs, you are in harms way? Even a little guy like him?
Wow, a 30 foot fall might make a person incoherent? What a news flash.
Thats your "first aid" to an injured person? That's sick.
What nutless wonders. A severely injured person, obviously in shock.
A single person can't hold a small kid with multiple injuries, in need of medical help? Pathetic.
I apologize to the group, I did not intend to start an argument with my statement.
I will say that one time about 4 years ago, I saw a man that probably weighed 100 Lbs soaking wet who was on PCP, had already broken a leg and been shot in the lower abdomen pick a 200 Lb police officer up and toss him across the street like a rag doll. This while standing on the broken leg with bones protruding.
I am not saying the young lad was on drugs, just stating that there have to be some missing details.
I am also very well aware of how some officers can over react in the "heat of the moment"
Need more details.
I will say that one time about 4 years ago, I saw a man that probably weighed 100 Lbs soaking wet who was on PCP, had already broken a leg and been shot in the lower abdomen pick a 200 Lb police officer up and toss him across the street like a rag doll. This while standing on the broken leg with bones protruding.
I am not saying the young lad was on drugs, just stating that there have to be some missing details.
I am also very well aware of how some officers can over react in the "heat of the moment"
Need more details.
The main point people miss is, the job description for law enforcement doesn't include punching bag or bullet catcher. Police shouldn't have to be injured as part of their job, that should merely be a risk. Whatever they need to do to avoid being injured is fine with me.
I don't like most law enforcement officers, nor most of the laws they enforce, but having worked in that capacity myself years ago, unless there is proof of gross abuse of force, I really don't care much about what happens to a criminal while they are committing a crime.
If the kid was at a job or at the movies rather than trying to jump off a bridge or whatever was really going on, he wouldn't have been in this spot of his. It should never be the police's fault they got called out to haul in yet more of society's trash. If society doesn't want to clean up after itself, they shouldn't be so quick to burn those who do the work for them.
Mind you...there are a LOT of police who shouldn't be in their positions...which is ultimately why I left that line of work. I didn't want to associate with the majority of those whom I met in the field.
I don't like most law enforcement officers, nor most of the laws they enforce, but having worked in that capacity myself years ago, unless there is proof of gross abuse of force, I really don't care much about what happens to a criminal while they are committing a crime.
If the kid was at a job or at the movies rather than trying to jump off a bridge or whatever was really going on, he wouldn't have been in this spot of his. It should never be the police's fault they got called out to haul in yet more of society's trash. If society doesn't want to clean up after itself, they shouldn't be so quick to burn those who do the work for them.
Mind you...there are a LOT of police who shouldn't be in their positions...which is ultimately why I left that line of work. I didn't want to associate with the majority of those whom I met in the field.
I can't imagine if he was just lying there that they'd utilize a taser on the kid. Can you? I mean really?
I'm just saying that if the kid were on the right stuff, he'd have had no problems moving or forcefully resisting. I guess the "alleged" thing was just an assumption, although a very feasable one. I mean how does one fall off a bridge and not know what happened? How does someone also continue to resist depending on whose story you believe without either a huge adrenaline dump or some pretty decent drugs?
Obviously both sides might have incentive to lie in the situation. The kid has a ton of incentive to lie with his telling of the situation, as he stands to gain a lot in a lawsuit against the police if he can put enough pressure on the department.
Even with the bad cops out there, I find it hard to believe that a good cop would allow one to keep tasering someone who was sufficiently subdued. I just don't see it.
I am certainly no police apologist, but I find this situation unlikely to have gone down exactly as the kid is claiming.
I am 100% in favor of the police utilizing the taser to help with subduing someone who is resisting for whatever reason. It is way better than being shot or clubbed in the head, etc. It has less potential for permanent harm than some of the other methods of subduing someone.
Witnesses allege police brutality in death of tasered man
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Raw Story
August 6, 2008
A Pennsylvania man has died after being tasered by local police, and the Civil Rights section of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office has now opened a preliminary investigation. Although the cause of death has not yet been determined, witnesses insist the man was kicked and beaten by police officers after he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Residents in Swissvale, PA had called police after they observed 37 year old Andre Thomas knocking on doors in the middle of the night and yelling that someone was trying to shoot him.
According to Allegheny County Police Assistant Supt. James Morton, when the officers arrived Thomas "was like yelling and screaming and acting really erratically, and they didn’t know what the situation was. So they asked him just to calm down and so forth and he made a movement towards them. So they had to tase him."
However, witnesses insist that Thomas was then brutalized by police, with one telling KDKA News that "after he was tased and handcuffed, one officer used a football-type kick and stomped him in the head."
Another woman recounted to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette what she saw after four officers forced Thomas to the ground. "’They killed that man. They killed him. They killed him,’ she added, her hands trembling. The woman said she saw one officer stomp on Mr. Thomas’s upper back, holding his foot there while the subject lay on the sidewalk with his head hanging over the curb. Another officer ‘reared back and punched him in the head with all his might,’ she said."
Thomas vomited, then lay motionless. An ambulance arrived and he was was treated at the scene by emergency medical personnel. Police allege Thomas was conscious at the time, but he was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.
Andre Thomas’s father, Dennis Thomas, now says, "I want to know what happened, what the particulars of the incident were that caused my son’s death."
I wonder what justification I'll hear next.
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