64-year-old Tased by cops thrice in own home

Ricc9

Ricc9

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Stunner! 64-year-old Tased by cops thrice in own home
'Hard to imagine something so shocking could happen'


September 01, 2010
By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A lawsuit has been launched against the sheriff's office in Marin County, Calif., over an episode in which deputies barged uninvited into a 64-year-old man's home and shot him three times with a Taser, screaming "stop resisting" while the incapacitated victim writhed in pain on the floor.

The sheriff's version of the episode was that watching "selected" video segments of the events may mislead people.

The incident was reported by KGO-TV in San Francisco, which posted a video:
video

The episode developed late in June when Peter McFarland, a consultant, returned home one night from a charity fundraiser and fell on his front steps, injuring his knee. Paramedics were called to treat his injury.

Then as the paramedics departed, McFarland reported, two deputies barged in.

"All of a sudden they just showed up, came in here like there was a fire," he said.

The deputies insisted on taking him to a hospital for an evaluation, according to the television report.

"We're going to take you to the hospital for an evaluation," one deputy says on the video. "You said if you had a gun you'd shoot yourself in the head."

McFarland said that statement was no more than hyperbole, reflecting how much pain he was in from his fall and the fact he was exhausted.

He refused to go and argued with the deputies. He told them to get out of his house and got up to go to bed.

That's when he was shot by the deputies, three times. The officers were yelling, "Stop resisting. Stop resisting," as he screamed unintelligibly while writhing uncontrollably on the floor.

His wife was pleading for the officers to stop, telling them McFarland had a heart condition.

John Scott, McFarland's attorney, told the television station it is "hard to imagine something this shocking could happen."

McFarland was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, but the charges later were dismissed. The attorney told the station the officers had no search warrant or any legal reason to enter the private home.

The station interviewed Dr. Byron Lee, a cardiologist, who said "the Taser has some real risks that if you can get Tasered in the right places, you can cause sudden death and cardiac arrest."



This crap is getting out of hand. A simple BLS call for a leg injury, why were the cops even there? What crime was committed to warrant there being there? There was no crime and they were told to leave and they violated his rights and escalated the situation into a illegal teasing.
 
Last edited:
Marin County Sheriff’s Office
Bureau of Administration and Support Services
Professional Standards Unit
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER:
SGT. DEBRA D. BARRY
415-499-7836

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 31, 2010
Sheriff’s Office Response to Lawsuit
San Rafael, CA – On Monday, August 30, 2010, a representative from a local news station left a voicemail message advising the Marin County Sheriff's Office that Mr. Peter McFarland had filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office related to his arrest on June 30, 2009. The Marin County Sheriff’s Office has not been served with a lawsuit with respect to the arrest of Mr. Peter McFarland on June 30, 2009, nor has it yet had an opportunity to review the allegations made to the media on August 30, 2010 by Mr. McFarland’s attorney.

The decision to resort to the use of force is never taken lightly and deputy sheriffs undergo an extensive amount of on-going training to ensure those decisions are both appropriate and fall within the guidelines established by law and department policy.

Irrespective of the totality of facts that lead to a decision to apply force in an arrest situation, the actual application of that force is often a very difficult thing to watch, as evidenced by the reaction of some to seeing the effects of the TASER deployment used during Mr. McFarland’s arrest. That reaction can all too often also be influenced by using only small, selected segments of a much lengthier video that better depicts the complexity of the event in question.

Regardless, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office is committed to as transparent a process in its arrest procedures as possible, a process that requires every TASER weapon in our inventory to contain a video / audio recording device that is automatically activated each time the weapon’s safety is removed. It is that very video system that recorded the footage recently released to the news media by Mr. McFarland.

The Sheriff’s Office takes all allegations of excessive force and/or deputy misconduct seriously and will do so in this case as well. After all the facts have been made public, we are confident the actions of our deputies will be found to have been both within the law and department policy.
 
I wish it had benn me!!! A few minutes of sheer agony and I'd be able to spend the rest of my life hunting around the world.
 
If they had not taken him for an evaluation and he pressed the off button, we would be on here talking about how lazy and inept the cops are that they are told that a guy said he would shoot himself and they just decided to do nothing and drove away. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. Don't say stupid crap in front of people that are obligated by law, morals and department policy and regulations to take action.
 
So common sence dosn't figure into the equation? Maybe the EMT was too tired or green to relize the joke but when the guy told the cops he was joking and spent some time with them you'd like to think they would use a little. Or we should continue to expell children who draw pictures of guns because there is a "zero tollerance" rule.

I wasn't there but it sure sounds like they were "just doing their job" rather than really doing their job.
 
bigfish, I do hear what you are saying. However, I would like to point out that this guy gets up off the couch very easily. Doesn't look like he is injured to the point that someone should need to be assisted by paramedics and would be in agony to the point that a reasonable person would make statements about shooting themselves. Maybe this guy really is a whack job and really needed a tune up? You do realize that the video doesn't start rollin on the taser until it is turned on? I am gonna go out on a limb here and say that there was most likely a whole lot of interaction before a taser was fired up. Who knows what was said and done prior to the start of the video. Just offering points to consider when looking at it from the other side.

I realize that there is also the possibility that the guy was fine, acted normally and the entire situation was blown out of proportion. I wasn't there, so I don't know. I do know that it is not fair to pass judgement on the cops when all we have is one side of the story. Just sayin
 
Quote:If they had not taken him for an evaluation and he pressed the off button, we would be on here talking about how lazy and inept the cops are that they are told that a guy said he would shoot himself
Unless there are completely different laws in CA about the subject, those officers had better be able to articulate a substantial reason to believe he was extremely serious about the comment, rather that just hearing him make it.....You don't "Yellow Sheet" someone just on a comment...

Once they arrived on a "Check the Welfare" and were able to determine that nothing was immediately "Life Threatening" and he was coherent and able to make his own decisions about going for treatment, they should have left, especially if his wife or neighbor were willing to look after him...

In the video, I saw nothing that would rise to the level of resisting arrest past the point that he legally wanted them out of his house....They should have left gracefully...

Considering the health issues I've dealt with, I'm not sure being tazered would be really healthy for me either...but if I survived, I would certainly be financially secure for a long, long time...
 
All I am saying is that it is unfair to pass judgement when all you have is exactly half the story. We have no idea what was said and done prior to the point that the tasers came out. Is it not a possibility that the guy was whacked out? Off his meds? drinking? We have no way of knowing that other than the version given by the "victim".

The President of the United States was crucified, justifiably, for doing the exact same thing to a police officer not so long ago. I will remain neutral until I know all the facts, which will probably never happen.
 
Quote:but if I survived, I would certainly be financially secure for a long, long time...

And my children and grandchildren would be secure too.

I'll say as much "stupid crap" as I want in my own house, and if there's no immediate threat to myself or others, those people "that are obligated by law, morals and department policy and regulations to take action" had damned well better leave my house when I ask them to or go and get a warrant.

The man said "IF I had a gun...", clearly meaning he didn't have a gun and there was no immediate danger (and no gun was visible).

There may be more to the story, though I can't imagine any more that would justify those actions, but we have WAY more than just "one side of the story", we've got video of the actual assault.

This was BS from start to finish. They shouldn't have been there in the first place, having arrived they shouldn't have gone into the house without immediate cause, and having gone into the house they should have left when told to. To put the icing on the cake the officer says "stop resisting or I'll hit you again" and then DOES hit him again. Did he look like he was resisting to you? He was on the floor writhing in pain.
 
Steve

I hear ya. Maybe I'm jaded but, it seemed like a pissing contest to me.
frown.gif
 
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