Man Tasered 6 times

It is very interesting to see the different opinions on this. There have been thousands and thousands of MURDERERS, RAPIST, BURGLARS and other that have been stopped for these types of crimes such as a license plate out, headlight out or over the center line. It amazes me to hear someone say that its a waste of time. If your wife had been killed and a cop stopped the suspect a short time later for a STUPID traffic stop you may think different about your opinion. You are right I am one of those cops. Its a thankless job but I want to do the best for my community that I work and also go home to my family safely at the end of each night.

I’ll thank you.

I think the cops did everything they are trained to do in this situation. The officer was giving commands, suspect was not complying. They gave him plenty of time and opportunity to obey the orders given before the initial taze. You could also hear the officers yelling at the suspect to “stop resisting”. If this guy would have obeyed their commands he would never have been tazed in the first place. Suspect in custody, nobody got hurt that we could see, and everyone went home safe. This guy shouldn’t get a dime!

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What wrong here? This bonehead cop couldn’t tell him what he did wrong. This is still America land of the free last time I checked. A lot of good men have given their lives to defend the constitution. What do you people want Gestapo agents. That very well could be your son,daughter,wife,how about your Mom? A crooked license plate. A nice made up excuse to check him out. I really hope he wins in court !

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Yes, if the guy sits in his car in about 30 seconds the cop would have been at his window telling what the problem was.
Comparing what this guy did to a Gestapo agent? Bit of stretch, don’t ya think. He was already found guilty of not properly displaying his license plate. Yes, it is an excuse to pull someone over. It happens every night. Most people sit in their car like they are supposed to. I think a billy club should have also been used on this guy.

By the way, I am not a constitutional scholar. Someone tell me what part of the constitution says it is your right to jump out of your car and demand to know what you did? I think it is a stretch to call this an invasion of privacy. They didn’t pull him over and search his vehicle. It was a standard traffic stop. His vehicle was not in proper working condition. The cop pulled him over to see if he is drunk (this is assumption). If a cop should never pull someone over if they are violating a traffic law, why have the law? Sure, the license plate seems like a dumb law (WI has the same one…been pulled over for it…during the day…twice), but it is still a law. He broke it. He sits in his car, he gets a warning. All done. Just as saying being pulled over is BS, claiming his civil rights were violated is BS. If there was some violation, he caused it. If the cop walked up to his window and tasered him, yeah he would have an argument.

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That very well could be your son,daughter,wife,how about your Mom?

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This is honestly what I thought of when I watched this video the first time through…

If I was the guy in the car and one of my uncles or my brother was on scene I never would have got tazzed. They would have set to beating me so senseless for being so stupid and disrespectful that the cops would have had to turn the taser on them to stop the drubbing.

Had he stayed in the car and asked why he was pulled over I guarantee the cop would have answered the question immediately.

The responsibility for what happened here lies 100% with the suspect in my opinion.

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What do you people want Gestapo agents.

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I have a close relation that spent 30+ years as a city cop and every story he’s ever shared about a traffic stop gone bad starts just like the one in this video. Belligerent coke head or drunk or punk with an authority problem comes out of the car and doesn’t comply with simple instructions and someone gets hurt. Seriously… everything that guy did was textbook “traffic stop gone horribly wrong.” I would just about guarantee you that cop has a mental catalogue of interactions that followed the same script and the suspect turned out to be a felon or hopped up junkie. There’s just no way for the cop to know once someone makes the decision to ignore simple commands.

There are two separate issues here that really have nothing to do with one another. To say getting tased was the result of being pulled over because of a license plate is ludicrious. He was pulled over for something that was against the law. This held up in court even. He got tased because he was aggressive, disorderly and unwilling to comply with simple orders given to him for his own and the cops safety.

Two issues…. Totally separate.

1) Should the cops have stopped him in his vehicle?
2) Was the force that was used justified by the man’s actions?

I say yes to both. Obviously this is debatable (as has been demonstrated), but for number 1) If his plate was hanging and that is against the law, then its in the cops right to stop him.
2) He was extremely aggresive. WAAAY more than any sane man should be when dealing with police on an obviously trivial matter. His aggression put the police officer in potential peril and he was not obeying orders. Jumping out of the car immediately and moving towards a police officer is dangerous for both parties. He could have had a gun, knife, etc. I saw many times where the clown turned, had a hand in his pocket, etc. Many opportunities to pull a gun (unseen from the officer’s perspective) from a pocket, turned and fired. Upon such an aggravated start, the officer was then acting in self defense mode. He was not demanding anything other than cooperation with a very hostile individual. Could have been armed, high, whatever…. Or just a D-bag idiot like it turned out.

I say police are in the right on both counts here. If you don’t agree with the laws that are in place which started this whole debacle, then make your best effort to change them by contacting your representative and/or running for office yourself. Don’t blame the intermediary who is just doing his job while trying to protect his own life. Do I agree that we have too many laws in this country?? Yes. Do I think this is the fault of the police?? Don’t be silly. This clown should get squat from the lawsuit. Roshabeau’d would be more appropriate for being such an idiot. In the end, if we as a country don’t support and respect those who protect us, where does that leave us??

Actually a great discusion on this topic guys, although we all don’t agree. Its been interesting!

As I sit her thinking about it, it seems once the guy got out of his car and wouldn’t get back in, he pretty much caused his own doom.

Also I think if we’d been lucky enough that a cop had stopped my brother or the guy who run in to him, who was also drunk, I might have that fishing partner today instead of memories.

While I don’t condone Gestapo tactics, I don’t see any of that here, if your drunk and driving you deserve what ever happens to you, if your not and get stopped, do what the cop says and then be on your way.

Al

Probable Cause….? He pulled him over for a crooked liscense plate.

This is an example of Why people have so little respect for law enforcement officers.

Before attack me, like you attacted Dan, no DUI’s here..
I don’t even drink.

JimE

Remember… the man was found not guilty of resisting arrest… But he WAS convicted of failure to properly display the front license plate.

NONE of the reports state what the actual deal was with the license plate. Was it covered up? painted over? Obscured in some way? I highly doubt that there was just a screw missing and it was hanging there… So… my assumption would be that the cop had a good reason for pulling the guy over. I have known people, after drinking at the bar, that would go to lengths to obscure the license plate to prevent cops from pulling records or information from the vehicle (past DWI’s, etc). I think that the cop made the correct choice in pulling him over. There is a reason for every law. The guy broke that law. It was a rightful stop.

And to think, as some say above, that the cops are looking for a reason to pull someone over to check for DWI for cash purposes…. did it ever cross your mind that they are willing to pull people over for reasons thare are unlawful, as petty as they may seem, because they want to check for DWIs and possibly SAVE LIVES??????????? Or have your previous convictions of your own wrong-doings clouded your judgement and made you think that you are a victim because of your own DWI convictions and think the world is just out to get you?

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It is very interesting to see the different opinions on this. There have been thousands and thousands of MURDERERS, RAPIST, BURGLARS and other that have been stopped for these types of crimes such as a license plate out, headlight out or over the center line. It amazes me to hear someone say that its a waste of time. If your wife had been killed and a cop stopped the suspect a short time later for a STUPID traffic stop you may think different about your opinion. You are right I am one of those cops. Its a thankless job but I want to do the best for my community that I work and also go home to my family safely at the end of each night.

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I can remember back in the middle 60s a young officer stopping an auto for a shakey traffic violation. As a result the driver was arrested for a double murder I believe in the Cities of 2 very young girls with blonde hair. Anyone remember that one. The probable cause to go further in the stop was evidence that was observed in the back seat while approaching the suspects auto. If you know the parents of that one ask them about a gustapo PD tactics. I can cover rape, burglary, and armed robbery under similar circumstances. I didn’t have to watch the video to form an opinion. If he was a one man car, I take my hat off to him for even stopping a car. With out the tazer is sounds like he would have gone from a traffic violation to a felony Battery to a Police Officer in just a few seconds. I think he came out ahead of the game.

Take responsibility for your own actions!! When did it become the norm to blame everyone else for your problems?
The officer showed tremendous restraint. It is their job to keep you safe from yourself and others.
If you are not braking the law who cares if they pull you over. I have been pulled over for taillights and such, I don’t ever remember getting a ticket either. I can not remember ever getting a ticket for something I was not guilty of!

I don’t trust any cops that won’t take me fishing. Can wait to check out the new ice house!!

The cops don’t make the laws, the people we elect into office do. The cops use the laws on the books, however cheap or severe, to stop people.

I still am of the feeling that your home is your castle and your expectation of privacy is of the highest there. After that, when you venture out into public places – onto public roadways, it lessens. The people we elect into office govern what we do and can not do, how we can or can not act on the public roads and then they publish those “rules” in a form called statutes for everone to read. Ya, most of them are about as exciting as reading the rules of Candyland to my daughter, but like her, I have read them before so that I know what the rules are and what is expected of me, because I don’t want no trouble.

I am sure it is common in most states, but MN does have a candyland rule that covers this topic saying “Subd. 7.Plate fastened and visible.All plates must be (1) securely fastened so as to prevent them from swinging, (2) displayed horizontally with the identifying numbers and letters facing outward from the vehicle, and (3) mounted in the upright position. The person driving the motor vehicle shall keep the plate legible and unobstructed and free from grease, dust, or other blurring material so that the lettering is plainly visible at all times. It is unlawful to cover any assigned letters and numbers or the name of the state of origin of a license plate with any material whatever, including any clear or colorless material that affects the plate’s visibility or reflectivity.”

The liberal state of MN (those elected folks) also have a little bit more liberal point of view when it comes to that lessened expectation of privacy on the public roadways than I believe in, and so they do not allow for “checkpoints” in the interest of public safety (ooh, that should stir the pot), so I know that officers then resort to other legal reasons for stopping cars on the roadways. Now, maybe I am showing my age, but I was always taught that driving was a privilage, not a guarantee. I then got older and understood that it is a civil, contractual agreement between you and the State of MN that you could drive on the road and be “licensed” if you followed the laws and if you didn’t then we don’t want you driving on our roads anymore – hence “you are revoked / suspended / canceled”. I must have missed a change about the same time that the “its not my fault” theory began.

Yes, while the state does have a campaign to lessen the number of people on the roadways that are – including but not limited to: drunks, agressive drivers, speeders, follow too closers, inattentive drivers, by pulling people over and allowing the cops to use good investigative skills for subsequent issues such as drinking, there have been (as pointed out in a couple previous posts) crimes such as “why don’t they go after the murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and ponzi schemers”(ok, I added that one) which have been detected, apprehended and solved because of an equipment violation.

Timothy McVeigh (dude bombed the Murrah Federal Bldg in OK – 1995)was stopped for a license plate infraction on I-35 in Noble County in Oklahoma and subsequently arrested and convicted. I know a cop that on a cold winter night, tried to stop a car for a tail light out. Ended up in a chase which led to the arrest of Phillip Cole who killed a Hutchinson Police Officer in 1989.

And as far as the whole money issue goes…don’t kid yourself. Whether it is a speeding ticket or a murder case solved, the only ONLY people getting the money are the attorneys.

I think we should be glad we have those cops out there, day after day, willing to serve. If you really think it is the Gestapo, then I think you are still playing Candyland – cause the Gestapo really don’t give a damn if your license plate is a swingin…

Gestapo:
Show Spelled Pronunciation [guh-stah-poh; Ger. guh-shtah-poh] Show IPA
Use gestapo in a Sentence
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–noun 1. the German state secret police during the Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and notorious for its brutal methods and operations.

Happy Holidays!

Rick