#taser

Westminster, Colorado — On October 1, 2023, around 7:53 p.m., Westminster Police Officer Robb Phelps was dispatched to a disturbance with injuries in the 1400 block of 116th Avenue. As Officer Phelps arrived on scene, several individuals were in a physical altercation with a male subject in the parking lot. Officer Phelps gave several loud, verbal commands to the individuals. One individual did not comply.

As Officer Phelps deployed his Taser, in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, the individual produced a gun and pointed the weapon at another person. After several more loud, verbal commands to drop the gun were ignored by the individual, Officer Phelps then fired one round from his duty weapon, striking the subject. Officers preformed life saving measures until paramedics arrived on scene and transported the male subject to the hospital. Ultimately, the male subject died from his injuries.

What Las Vegas police said started out as a call about battery with a deadly weapon turned into a man stabbing a woman in a burning apartment, before he was run over by a patrol car.

Officials with the Metropolitan Police Department detailed Tuesday’s series of events at a press conference Friday.

With the woman trapped inside the northwest Las Vegas apartment on fire, responding officers ran over the man with a patrol car, and he stabbed himself while lying in a roadway where he died, police said.

On the evening of October 10, 2023, two SCPD officers responded to a residence in East Northport, Suffolk County. When officers arrived, they encountered 54-year-old Alan Weber, wielding what appeared to be two swords. When Weber walked towards the officers, one of the officers tased him, but the taser failed to subdue him. Weber again advanced towards the officers, and the other officer fired his service weapon in response. Weber was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Officers recovered two fencing swords at the scene.

Naugatuck, Connecticut — On October 14, 2023, Naugatuck Police Officers got a call for shoplifting at Stop and Shop in Naugatuck when 33-year-old Jarrell Day of Waterbury attempted to steal over $200 worth of beer. During the course of that theft, it was updated to a robbery charge due to the fact that there was an altercation between store staff and the suspect in question. In police body camera video, Detective Williams can be seen approaching the suspect's car and ordering both occupants out of the vehicle. The car takes off, hitting a police cruiser while driving away. A second video, taken from Officer Kehoss' body camera, shows Kehoss driving after the fleeing vehicle and finding it crashed into a pole a short distance away. Officer Kehoss chased Day and ordered him to stop before pulling out a stun gun and telling him to get on the ground. The officer then deploys the stun gun, causing Day to fall to the ground. The officer ordered Day to roll onto his stomach. When Day didn't comply, Kehoss electrified the stun gun again.

He did so one more time after asking the suspect to put his hands behind his back. After the incident, Officer Kehoss’ supervisors reviewed the video and brought it to the attention of the Office of the State’s Attorney. That office then directed the Connecticut State Police to investigate to determine if criminal charges needed to be brought against the officer. On October 30, 2023, Officer Nicholas Kehoss turned himself in to Troop A in Southbury on an active arrest warrant Monday, charging him with intentional cruelty to persons and third-degree assault. Officer Kehoss was released on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at (GA4) Waterbury Superior Court on November 11, 2023. Day was charged with attempted second-degree assault, third-degree robbery, assault on police, illegal possession of a weapon in a vehicle, second-degree larceny, reckless driving, operating under suspension and evading responsibility. He was held on $200,000 bond after the arrest.

Denver, Colorado — On Thursday, October 19, around 6:15 p.m., Denver Police officers were called to a Whole Foods store near Union Station for a report of someone brandishing a knife. Upon arrival, they found the man, 33-year-old Latif Robinson, with a 13-inch knife. Officers tried to negotiate with the suspect and offered him food, a place to stay, access to a hospital, money and a chance to charge his phone in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.

When the man began walking toward an officer, he fired at him. Another officer shot a taser, hitting the man and bringing him down. The initial gunfire did not hit the suspect. The Taser made contact with the suspect and the gunshot struck a freezer. The suspect was taken into custody and is facing a charge of felony menacing, but officials are also seeking to connect the suspect with mental health resources. The store was also evacuated after shoppers were told to take cover.

Camden County, Georgia — On Monday, October 16th, 2023, at approximately 7:30 a.m., a Camden County Sheriff's Office Deputy pulled over 53-year-old Leonard Cure as he drove along Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida line for speeding over 100 mph and Reckless Driving. The deputy immediately started yelling for him to get out of the truck. Cure gets out and said he wasn’t going to do anything. Cure asked if there was a warrant for his arrest. The deputy again tells him to put his hands behind his back or he will be tasered. He also tells Cure that he was being arrested for going over 100 mph and reckless driving. Cure gets tasered and while the deputy is asking him to put his hands behind his back, Cure starts swinging his arms and the two begin to fight.

Cure then appears to have one hand on either the deputy’s throat or his mouth and the other on his back. The deputy Tased Cure a second time and used a baton before pulling out the gun and firing one shot into Cure’s stomach. Cure hit the ground, and the deputy said “shots fired!” over the radio and called for more officers. At least a dozen paramedics and officers arrived on the highway shoulder within minutes. Several first responders gave Cure chest compressions for minutes before they loaded him into an ambulance. In 2020 Cure was released from a Florida prison after he was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery in 2004. He was sentenced to life in prison, but authorities reviewing his case in 2020 concluded he didn’t commit the crime. Cure was awarded $817,000 for his wrongful incarceration.