Merced police used Taser on unarmed, legless man in a wheelchair

Merced police used Taser on unarmed, legless man in a wheelchair

www.mercedsunstar.com

"I said, 'What are you doing? I haven't done anything!'" Williams recalled.

Williams said Pinnegar, who was positioned behind the wheelchair, grabbed him by his left arm, pulling it backward behind his head. To prevent himself from falling out of his wheelchair, Williams said he grabbed the side of his wheelchair with his right hand. "I wasn't resisting. I was hanging on, so I wouldn't fall out and bust my head open. They weren't caring what was going to happen to me when I hit that ground, and I knew it," Williams said.

Williams said Pinnegar unholstered his Taser and jammed it into his rib cage and shocked him twice. Williams said he fell from his chair onto his stomach on the ground outside his doorway.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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[url=http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/legless-man-cops-tasered/]www.rawstory.com

[edit on 21-9-2009 by fraterormus]

How much of a threat is a legless man in a wheel-chair with his 2 year old daughter on his lap?

How can the officers in this arrest justify the excessive use of force in this case?

Thankfully a neighbor caught video of the arrest.

a "hostile" crowd gathered around the apartment building during the incident. The "apartment complex came to a roar because they were tasing a guy in a wheelchair and it was for no reason," said one witness

What's worse is that he has been held for 6 days and counting without being charged. I thought that in itself was absolutely reprehensible.

Is it just me or is anyone else getting tired of seeing these constant abuses by bad LEOs?

www.mercedsunstar.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

EDIT: Added additional quote from another news article

[edit on 21-9-2009 by fraterormus]

Reply to post by fraterormus

No Frat, it's not just you.

'Dang cripples are dangerous!'

Thanks for the reminder, Frat.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

He obviously resisted arrest. And don't you know that people in wheel chairs have the upper arm strength of a silverback low land gorilla.

Use of taser is recommended.

It just doesn't get much worse than this does it.

It used to make me angry when people used the derogatory name *pig* for police officers.

Now all I can say is *oink oink*

peace

It's just the daily quota of pointless tazering. Pain compliance is every day news these days.

Originally posted by PsykoOps
It's just the daily quota of pointless tazering. Pain compliance is every day news these days.

The shockings will continue, until morale improves.

I added a quote to the original post that

A "hostile" crowd gathered around the apartment building during the incident. The "apartment complex came to a roar because they were tasing a guy in a wheelchair and it was for no reason," said one witness.

It would appear that police are escalating violence by unwarranted use of force via tasers. Right now it's just a "hostile" crowd. Next you know the police are going to have to bring out the SWAT Teams and Riot and Crowd Control when they want to use their tasers without justification as it would appear that the common people are getting tired of this.

If the purpose of a taser is to keep LEOs safe while performing their duties, and give them a less-lethal alternative to using their firearm, they are shooting themselves in the foot by abusing it as it would appear that these abuses are turning normal, law-abiding citizens hostile towards LEOs. If they keep over-reacting unchallenged and unrebuked, they are going to find themselves in a dangerous situation with hostile crowds beating them for their wrongful actions.

And maybe that's what LEOs need...

Maybe the LEOs need daily pain compliance until their prudence and judiciousness improves.

[edit on 21-9-2009 by fraterormus]

reply to post by fraterormus


So, I just keep reading the article, and it just keeps getting more and more ridiculous! The wife was supposedly the victim, but they arrested her on an old Domestic Abuse charge! The onlookers were so rowdy and upset that "dozens" of police ended up responding, and they arrested another man for an "illegal folding knife"!?!?

The police supposedly took a phone and deleted one video of the footage!!

The charge was that he "punched his wife 3 times in the stomach with a closed fist," but they are not pressing charges any longer, and seeing as how he is in a wheelchair, it is hard to believe he could punch anybody 3 times. He might sneak 1 in, but after that you just step behind the chair, or out of his reach!!

Here is the article author's email address if anybody would like to follow up on the story. The internal investigation was expected to take a few days and the officers are still on duty for now. He still doesn't have his daughter back, and he can't see her! There may be some domestic violence in the house, but the whole event still illuminates a need for better training for cops!!

[email protected]

And Obama still wants a civilian security force? please.

Anyone who uses a tazer on an amputee whom is not wielding a weapon, is a coward.

Plain and simple.

Those LEOs are cowards.

Who are they protecting? Who are they serving?

Not me. And obviously not the poor guy whom was injured by them with electrocution weaponry.

reply to post by ninecrimes

Anyone who uses a tazer on an amputee whom is not wielding a weapon, is a coward.

Plain and simple.

Those LEOs are cowards.

Who are they protecting? Who are they serving?

Not me. And obviously not the poor guy whom was injured by them with electrocution weaponry.

Obviously not the supposed victim, whom they arrested as well! Obviously not the neighbors whom were also harrassed and arrested and violated of their rights!!
Obviously not the state, as they decided not to press any charges!!

So, who were they protecting? Who were they serving?

Only themselves, their egos, their powertrips, and their "brothers in blue!" They may not realize it, but each of these acts puts the officers in more and more danger! I would hate to be wearing one of those uniforms when the camel's back finally goes!!

hmmmm will there be a corp police force going up against the `boys in blue` to protect the rights of the corp they serve?

Originally posted by Harlequin
hmmmm will there be a corp police force going up against the `boys in blue` to protect the rights of the corp they serve?

Already Done!! Railroads have their own "police" force! They have for Centuries! Blackwater, or whatever its new name is, and a vast array of other Mercenary Groups operate outside the rules of law, and they look out for Corporate interests here, and especially abroad!! Private Security Corporations protect our Government buildings, the Pentagon, and the Military Bases! "Wackenhut" is the most well known, but there are plenty of other physical, economical, and technological companies providing "protections!"

If a revolution, or a mass overhaul of the government ever threatens the economic powerhouses, then we will see the 'boys in blue' crying to the populace looking for help in defending themselves and their communities. Militaries will be forced to choose Govt or Corp or People. Police forces will be an enemy of everyone, and too understaffed and undergunned to do anything about it, so they will also have to pick a side, but they will be expendable pawns to anyone they side with, because they have abused the people, and nobody else trusts them!!

ok these kind of things really piss me off

1st of all, the dumb ass woman

she got hit in the stomach by a man with a wheelchair?? ok well if she did, she obviously let it happen, the man has no legs and is in a wheelchair, and she cant get away from this threat?? does she have no legs also??

2nd of all, couldve sworn if they dont charge you within 24 hours they have to let you go, how the hell did they keep him 6 days with no charges

3rd of all, im simply sick and tired of cops, and personally i feel there should be a nationwide protest

what i would love to see is millions of people around the nation arm themselves with tasers and surround all of the police buildings and protest until something is done about police corruption

i say everyone at these protests carry tasers, pepper spray and any other legal weapon they can bring

im not saying use them, but im saying show them off, let the police know we will not stand for this crap happening on a daily/weekly basis the way that it is

sure some people will argue and say theres no way its everyday or every week, at most a few times a month

well maybe its only reported a few times a month, but i guaren damn tee that for every case thats reported at least 4 go unreported


every day from every angle the american people are being assaulted and having their way of life jeopardized

to me its sickening how no one has stood up yet to put a end to this crap, eldery Alzheimer victims, legless victims, children, elderly, middle aged, everyone is being assaulted by these power hungry fools


when the hell are we going to say enough is enough??

never too many people will support this system, and no one will stand up until it happens to them, but once it happens to them, there will be no one left to defend anyone


edited to say for the record, if this happens to me or any of my family, the police better incarcerate me for life in maximum security or i promise retaliation will take place, i would suggest the rest of the nation adhering to the same beliefs, or soon, we will no longer have the ability to retaliate, police have gone too far

[edit on 21-9-2009 by Dramey]

Originally posted by ninecrimes
Anyone who uses a tazer on an amputee whom is not wielding a weapon, is a coward.

Plain and simple.

Those LEOs are cowards.

Who are they protecting? Who are they serving?

Not me. And obviously not the poor guy whom was injured by them with electrocution weaponry.

Who are they protecting? This is the great illusion that many people STILL fail to grasp.

TO PROTECT AND SERVE, common phrase... most people believe the next part is THE PEOPLE.

It is not.

It is, TO SERVE AND PROTECT THE CORPORATION. The corporation being whichever one is employing them, they are nothing more than CORPORATE POLICY ENFORCERS. The corporation could be their city, their state or their nation.

Notice that more and more people resources and times are spent fighting STATUTES ("Acts"), and not actual crimes. When you're busy doing that you have less time for the "trivial" things, like protecting people and their property, and investigating fraud.

Notice how they say he was in jail on "suspicion" of domestic violence? So, he wasn't convicted, someone made the claim, so now the police punish you by mere accusation?

This taser stuff is totally out of control.

Originally posted by king9072

Originally posted by ninecrimes
Anyone who uses a tazer on an amputee whom is not wielding a weapon, is a coward.

Plain and simple.

Those LEOs are cowards.

Who are they protecting? Who are they serving?

Not me. And obviously not the poor guy whom was injured by them with electrocution weaponry.

Who are they protecting? This is the great illusion that many people STILL fail to grasp.

TO PROTECT AND SERVE, common phrase... most people believe the next part is THE PEOPLE.

It is not.

It is, TO SERVE AND PROTECT THE CORPORATION. The corporation being whichever one is employing them, they are nothing more than CORPORATE POLICY ENFORCERS. The corporation could be their city, their state or their nation.

Notice that more and more people resources and times are spent fighting STATUTES ("Acts"), and not actual crimes. When you're busy doing that you have less time for the "trivial" things, like protecting people and their property, and investigating fraud.

Ummm.. nope. They are sworn to serve and protect the common interest of the public.

I'm a bit confused... What was the point of your post, anyways?

I'm so sick of these dang stories.

A guy in a wheelchair was not able to be controlled? Were they getting winded while trying to put cuffs on him and it was too much physical effort for them to handle? I always thought tazers were meant as a non-lethal means to subdue a perpetrator in the event that they posed a very clear and present danger.

Being a stubborn old man in a wheelchair does not seem to represent a clear and present danger.

I think that the guidelines in which it is acceptable to use these things needs to be much, much stricter, not, if they guy is getting on your nerves fry the SOB.

I thought azers were meant to replace guns resulting in fewer lethal and serious injury outcomes. So I would think that if the situation is one that doesn't warrant the drawing of a firearm, then it also doesn't warrant the drawing of an electrocution device.

reply to post by nunya13

I always thought tazers were meant as a non-lethal means to subdue a perpetrator in the event that they posed a very clear and present danger.

It appears we were wrong, and the purpose of tazers was to replace conversation, getting facts, and getting to the bottom of a situation!!


I thought the same as you, but it appears tazers are actually meant for anyone that disagrees with an officer, or wants clarification of the charges, or just looks plain ol' grouchy! Now that cops have tazers, they won't need language skills, self defense, or manners. Just walk up, TAZE, toss cuffs to suspect and demand them to cuff themselves, open car door, TAZE, demand they get into car, and then, survey crowd, TAZE, confiscate cameras and cell phones that could result in lawsuits or embarrasment, then drop off suspect, let DA and attorneys sort things out, while you get back on with your text-messaging marathon to your "fling" on the side, while your wife worries about your "dangerous" job!!

Originally posted by DevilJin
And Obama still wants a civilian security force?

please.

Excellent!! Something that has absolutely nothing to do with the subject still manages to have a shot at your President tossed in.

You know, when you wake up in the morning and you have but one thought in your head, and everything you see and hear is filtered through the lens of that thought...you know that is a pathological condition, don't you?