stun gun

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Cops Tase High School Band Director at Football Game

Johnny Mims claims 'egregious violation of civil rights' in Birmingham

(Newser) - Police in Birmingham, Alabama, repeatedly deployed a stun gun in front of students while arresting a high school band director who allegedly refused to stop his band from playing. Police were clearing spectators from a stadium following a football game between Minor and Jackson-Olin high schools on Thursday when they...

Man Bursts Into Flames After Cop Tases Him
Man Bursts Into Flames
After Cop Tases Him
VIDEO
Oct 27, 2022 11:51 AM CDT

Man Bursts Into Flames After Cop Tases Him

Christopher Gaylor, who Arkansas cops say was carrying gasoline in backpack, will be OK

(Newser) - An Arkansas biker is expected to survive after he was tased earlier this month by police and burst into flames. Citing a release from Arkansas State Police, CNN reports that the incident took place in the early morning hours of Oct. 13 in Little Rock, when a cop tried to...

For a Minute-Plus, He Was Tased by Cop. 4 Days Later, He Died

Conn. police conducting internal probe after Ryan Marzi's death following trooper encounter

(Newser) - An obituary for Ryan Marzi notes that he "passed away unexpectedly in his sleep" in August, but an encounter he had with Connecticut state troopers just four days before his death is now under investigation. Per the Hartford Courant , two troopers, Desmond Stimson and Jessie Rainville, had responded to...

Man 'Cooked Alive' After Police Tased Him at a Gas Pump

Deputy involved has now been charged

(Newser) - Update: The Florida deputy accused of accidentally setting a motorcycle rider on fire when he tased him at a Florida gas station in February has been charged with culpable negligence, a misdemeanor, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The biker, too, is being charged with reckless driving, fleeing law enforcement and resisting...

He Poured Hand Sanitizer on Himself. Then a Cop Tased Him

NY AG investigating incident in Catskill, NY, after Jason Jones burst into flames; he died last month

(Newser) - Graphic video made public Friday shows a man who doused himself in hand sanitizer bursting into flames when a police officer used a stun gun on him at a New York police station in October. Security footage released by the state attorney general's office shows Jason Jones, 29, rolling...

Man Set on Fire by Police Stun Gun Dies

Police say Catskill man Jason Jones had doused himself with hand sanitizer

(Newser) - An upstate New York man has died almost seven weeks after he burst in flames when police shot him with a stun gun. Police say Jason Jones, 29, became belligerent with officers and doused himself in flammable hand sanitizer after he walked into the Catskill Police Station around 1:30am...

Cops Who Tased Man More Than 50 Times Guilty of Murder

Former Oklahoma officers convicted of second-degree murder

(Newser) - Update: Two former Oklahoma police officers were convicted of second-degree murder Friday for excessive use of a Taser on an unarmed man who died two days later in 2019. The crime is punishable by 10 years to life behind bars. They were also convicted of assault and battery with a...

Deputy Who Had One More Shift Before Retirement Killed

Fleeing suspect struck Cpl. Brian LaVigne's cruiser in Florida, per sheriff's office

(Newser) - A Florida sheriff's deputy had one full shift to complete before retirement when he was killed on duty Monday. Cpl. Brian LaVigne had been called to assist fellow Hillsborough County deputies in apprehending a fleeing suspect when that suspect rammed LaVigne's cruiser, Sheriff Chad Chronister said . Deputies were...

Police Chief Decries 'Horrible' Use of Force on Black Man

Police officer Tyler Timberlake charged with assault after using stun gun on 'man in crisis'

(Newser) - A Virginia police officer was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery Saturday after being accused of using excessive force on a black man. The Fort Hunt Herald reports the incident took place Friday around 1:30pm in Mount Vernon, where an apparently disoriented victim—described by the Fairfax County Police...

Deputy Settles Beef Between K9, Cow With Stun Gun

South Carolina sheriff's deputy had to step in

(Newser) - A sheriff's deputy responding to a burglary call in South Carolina was forced to settle a beef between his K9 and a spooked cow by using a stun gun, the AP reports. Georgetown County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Pleasant Hill community on Wednesday when a K9...

Grandma's 70th Birthday Surprise: Cops Tase Her

Barbara Pinkney gets tased in Florida after cops came looking for her grandson

(Newser) - A Florida woman got an unpleasant surprise on her 70th birthday after cops came calling in search of her grandson. Per a probable cause affidavit cited by NBC News , Manatee County deputies showed up Thursday morning at the home of Barbara Pinkney in Bradenton looking for Tevin Turner, who was...

Cincinnati Cop Tases Girl Accused of Stealing Food

Officer is on restricted duty amid investigation

(Newser) - A Cincinnati police officer is on restricted duty after using a Taser on an 11-year-old girl suspected of stealing food from a Kroger. "It's hard to understand why an 11-year-old would be tased. I expect answers in 24 hours," Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman tells the Cincinnati Enquirer...

Cops: Man Told Muslims at McDonald's to 'Get Out of My Country'

John Jay Smith arrested after allegedly trying to stun-gun Egyptian exchange students

(Newser) - A 60-year-old Florida man has been arrested after cops say he verbally and physically attacked two Muslim men outside a St. Augustine McDonald's. First Coast News and CBS News report John Jay Smith is accused of approaching the pair, who were chowing down on hamburgers in the eatery's...

Mom Accused of Unusual Way of Getting Son Up for Church

Cops say Arizona's Sharron Dobbins used a Taser on Easter Sunday to get her teen out of bed

(Newser) - It's not acceptable to use a Taser to get your child up for church, police say—even on Easter Sunday. Arizona mother Sharron Dobbins was arrested on suspicion of child abuse after allegedly using a stun gun on her 17-year-old son early Sunday morning, the Sacramento Bee reports. She...

Police Shoot Suicidal Man at Las Vegas Hospital

Cops say he took stun gun from guard's bag

(Newser) - An officer shot and killed a suicidal man in police custody in a Las Vegas emergency room Monday after the suspect took a stun gun from a jail guard's bag that was left in a room with him and pointed it at security guard and a nurse, officials say....

Cops: Texas Woman Used Stun Gun on 5-Year-Old Son

'From zero to 10, it hurt 10,' he told police

(Newser) - Her lawyer says it was "discipline that went a little too far." Police say it was a felony. Houston woman Whitney White, 27, has been charged with felony injury to a child for abuse that included abusing her son with a stun gun when he was 5 years...

Police Raffle Has Shocking Grand Prize, Literally

An officer will be hit by a stun gun in Louisiana

(Newser) - A police union in Louisiana is raffling off a grand prize that is raising eyebrows: the use of a stun gun on one of its officers, per the AP . DeRidder Police Chief John Gott says officers themselves suggested one of their own be stunned April 15 to raise funds for...

A Name Change for Taser, Free Body Cams for Cops

Newly branded Axon offering police departments trial run for cameras, software

(Newser) - Does this mean we now have to say a suspect was "Axoned"? In a rebranding move meant to put some distance between the Taser International company and its famous stun gun, the firm is changing its name, Reuters reports. Although CEO Rick Smith says his team is "...

Study Finds Another Reason to Be Wary of Tasers

They could lead to false confessions, researchers say

(Newser) - People have died after being Tased , and now a new study finds another reason to be wary of Tasers: The weapons may lead to false confessions. Criminology researchers actually found 142 people willing to be Tased—most of them were college students, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports—and then used...

FBI: We're Going to Start Counting Deaths by Cop Better

New system will list deadly encounters by gun, Taser, physical force

(Newser) - The FBI is finally on the case: The agency is revamping its data-collection system to more accurately portray how many deaths come at the hands of police officers each year, the Guardian reports, giving itself a pat on the back as part of the impetus behind the initiative. Officials say...

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