E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSMOUNT STERLING, Ohio -- An Ohio police officer says he used a stun gun twice on a 9-year-old who skipped school because the child refused to cooperate with his commands.
Details of the incident, which resulted in the shutdown of a village police force, were released Monday, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The Mount Sterling officer went to the boy's home on a truancy complaint last week. He says the child's mother warned the boy, who weighs between 200 and 250 pounds, to obey the officer or he'd be shocked.
According to a copy of the police report provided by the mayor’s office to msnbc.com, the officer wrote that the boy “dropped to the floor and became dead weight” and lay on his hands to prevent being handcuffed.
“He refused any and all orders. I told him if he did not stop flailing and place his hands behind his back, I would deploy the Taser on him. He still did not comply to my orders to stop resisting,” the officer wrote.
The officer said he deployed the stun gun twice before he was able to handcuff the boy. The child was checked by a medic before being taken to the sheriff’s office, and a delinquency count of resisting arrest was added to his truancy charge, according to the police report.
The village police chief, Mike McCoy, announced Monday night that he will resign from his post but said it has nothing to do with the Taser incident. McCoy read a statement that said the village’s declining budget keeps him from doing his job, according to the Dispatch.
“Basically, the funds we have here are very low and he wasn’t able to keep in budget,” Mayor Charles Neff said of the police chief.
McCoy was placed on paid leave late last week from his $49,900-a-year job for waiting two days before telling the mayor about the incident.
The loss of the chief effectively meant the end of the village’s police department, since he was the only full-time officer. The others were part time or volunteers, Neff has said.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office has taken on the task of patrolling Mount Sterling, which has a population of about 1,800.
Neff said state authorities are investigating whether the officer used excessive force or otherwise acted inappropriately in subduing the boy.
Read the full Columbus Dispatch story.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Leave a Comment:
It sounds to me like the kid could have been the bully in the school. He refused authority at home with his mom as well as the authority of the police. Not sure about the taser being needed but it sounds like everything else didn't work and he was refusing to listen to anybody. In regards to the weight of the child, they will eat whenever and wherever they are and it may not necessarily be the fault of the parent although it sounds like the parent gave in to everything to the kid until this happened.
The parent warned the kid he would be tasered even and still he didn't listen. Too many families who do not have discipline in the home and then expect that when they call the police their child will be scared straight have left it too long and are no longer respected nor believed that they will follow through with the stated discipline. Our kids today are nothing but hoodlums and bullies and then when an authority figure does try to make them listen they are criticized. A child of 9 years old knows the difference between right and wrong and perhaps now that he has been tasered he will know there are consequences as well..
Why are police involved with truancy? This is hardly a police matter. It is more than a little scary that the officer felt he needed to deal with the student at all. Then when he needlessly confronts the child, he resorts to tazering him - the officer had a choice, HE could have walked away. The state's only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression - in this case the only aggression came from the officer. When police wonder why they are loseing respect amongst the general population, these type of incidents are the root cause.
While I agree you have a point, we simply do not have enough information upon which to form a solid opinion. I also take into account that even if the boy is 9.. psychologically seeing someone who weighs between 200-250 pounds and thinking of them as a child would be difficult. I think a police officer (who had to be called out there, maybe even by the child's parents as a last resort) could have trouble not being effected by the child's size and treat him as someone older. I think this is not as simple as it sounds.
Nice observation. True, the officer may not have known that the child was 9. However, he did know he was being called in for a truancy violation, so he did know he was dealing with a minor. When the child refused to obey, the officer had a choice, he could have simply turned to the mother and let her know that it is her responsibility to disciple and get the child to school.
why were they handcuffing a nine year old in the first place? but that said....tazer? no. cattle prod to move this little lard ball yes i would bet mom is an eyefull as well, let her follow him around with a cattle prod all day and burn them both some pounds off.
A nine year old hiding his hands is normal behavior for a scared nine year old. Tasing a nine year old? Insanity. If a officer is unable to handle a child (regardless of his weight) without tasing him, perhaps he should consider another line of work.
My eldest daughter is 5'3" and small but she is an EMT. She is expected to be able to carry a full grown man down a full flight of stairs. If she can do it without a problem, I think this officer should be able to handle one child without abusing him.
Does your 5'3 petite little girl have to carry the full grown man down by herself? I think not. So don't even try to compare the story of your daughter to this child. I know many paramedics and EMT's and they always have 2 to 3 people PER rescue call.
Whoa, wait just one minute!Did I just read this kid was 9yrs. old and weighed between200 to 250 was tasered by some IDIOT that calls him self a Cop?
Now what the Fark is wrong with this picture? Why the Fark does a 9yr.old weigh between 200 and 250 lbs for?Are the parents, the school, and these idiots they have for cops, all on DRUGS? I'm Serious!
WHAT THE FARK IS WRONG WITH THESE CHIMPANZEES? This kid doesn't need to be tasered or to be in school,this kid needs HELP!
Holy Sh it,I've read some stories in my time but this HAS GOT TO BE THE ICING ON THE CAKE.
Where's the Charges against the parents for CHILD ABUSE and charges against this MORON that calls himself a cop for ASSAULT AND BATTERY ON A CHILD!
Again What the Fark have people EVOLVED DOWN TO?
Honestly I can't think of a response the officer could do that everyone would find acceptable. Walk away and teach a 9 yr old there are no consequences for skipping school. Give the boy some type of write up that wouldn't have any meaning to him. Someday this kid will be an adult with behavioral problems. Would we reflect back on this incident and say the officer should have been more aggressive? At his weight I'd say his parents don't have control and the little boy doesn't have control. We don't know that he hasn't already been to a doctor about his weight so I'm not going there. I don't see a good outcome any way you slice it.
Show the kid a stalk of celery next time. It'll scare him more than the Taser.
Idiot cop - call someone to help you move the kid. Call his mother. Get a backhoe. Obviously there is something wrong with that kid. There are other options. The dynamic changes significantly if he goes into cardiac arrest.
here is my view... and it is simple. If there is no physical danger to an officer or civilians in the area than a tazer or mace is not justified. The worst outcome for this officer was MAYBE a hand to the face by a (large) 9 year old but it seems to me that the 9 year old was in no way threatening the officer's safety... just throwing a tantrum. The officer's behavior is disgusting.
That cop should be strapped into Old Sparky down at the state pen. Using deadly force (273 Americans have died after being assaulted with a taser while in police custody in the last 5 years) on a 9 year old child, who was merely passively lying on the floor, should be a capital offense.
I find it interesting that the article focuses on the 9 year old being tasered rather than the fact that the 9 year old weighed somewhere between '200 & 500 pounds' and the mother told the child he would be tasered if he didn't listen to the officer. Oh, and by the way, the child was skipping school AT HOME in the presence of his parent, who couldn't make him go. Rather than arresting the kid for truancy, they should be taking him away from his abusive, incompetent parents. Grrr.
That cop needs his ass fired!! You DONT taser a 9 yo kid!!!!!
You should talk to police officers in your community they respond to calls like this every day. I would have Tasered the parent first and use that as an example of what would happen to the child if he fails to obey.
The headline reeled me in. The story has turned me to side with the police officer. If you have a defiant child, that obviously knows what he is doing is wrong, then more strict action had to be put in place. All of you ADULTS on these posts that are making remarks about this childs weight, are down right ignorant fools. Maybe that is why this boy didn't want to go to school in the first place. Maybe it was because of the CHILDREN teasing him. I feel the officer did what he felt necessary to bring this child of an adult size under control. Now before it came to this, did the mother or father reach out to the school asking for help of what to do so her son could receive his education. What is the possibilty of homeschooling? Short term placement for the child to see if it is the environment around him causing this? HAS ANYONE IN THAT TOWN TOOK THE TIME TO HELP SEE THIS CHILD THROUGH???????? Schools, neighbors, parents, relatives????
I feel the officer did what he felt necessary to bring this child of an adult size under control.
Since when is inaction being out of control? Lying on the floor is not out of control.
Hmm... fat mom at home and a super-fat kid...
Can we assume that she's a welfare-4-life single mom? Probably black?
Why isn't here a limit on the TYPES of food that these lazy hogs can purchase with their food stamps?
Use the UPC codes to deny the purchase of crap food.
I'm so sick of seeing these pigs with shopping carts full of pop and chips and donuts etc.
I suppose we can assume from your post that you're an uneducated bigot.
Tasers are meant to subdue someone. Seeing as the kid was lying on the floor, there was no need to subdue, therefore this is improper use of a (semi)-deadly weapon. Sometimes I think the feds give municipalities too much leeway over how to define what is a "cop." If you don't want the federal government messing in your local affairs, prove that they don't have to.
I want to make the point that NONE of us should judge....you don't know the background. I have a son who is 11 and weighs 160lb....I'm not an abusive parent, nor does my child eat what he wants when he wants. In fact he doesn't eat a lot at a sitting and tends to like what we call "healthy foods" If you looked at him you would say he's maybe a bit chubby around the midsection (Which goes away during sports seasons) but not obese.....If you looked at the men on his mother's side of the family you would say ahhhhh.....okay it's genetics...they ALL are large men - as adults all over 6'4" and all BIG guys. So don't judge this woman because you DON'T know. You don't know if this child has behavioral issues...is from a broken home.....has a mental disability. You don't possibly have enough information to judge this woman as abusive because of a few sentences that YOU read about him and her......amazing how people jump to off the wall conclusions...."the Mom should be shot...hanged...jailed....beaten" Really people?????
I'm very small and always have been. My husband is thin and average to tall in height. Our children are giants. One is very thin and two tend to be on the heavier side but they all eat the same thing. We have no idea why this is so, but it just is. You're absolutely right that nobody should judge unless they know the facts. And even then judging someone is dubious at best.
No 9 year old should be tasered, but no 9 year old should weigh 200 to 250 lbs either. First of all the guy says he is leaving because they have no money in the budget? Was he the only cop and they could afford a tsar, also why isn't child services involved in this, sounds like the mom does nothing but feed this child in order to avoid disciplining him, very sad situation all the way around.
OK Everyone,
I have a question, is it legal to taser someone if you are not a police officer? I looked on the web and I determined it is legal to own one in almost every state, but can not find out if you can use it. Any help would be appreciated.
If you can legally own a taser, you could use it to taser another person but only in defense of yourself or the defense of another person. Of ourse, the threat or damage must be equal to or greater than the force which the taser represents. Some state laws might vary.
You can use a taser in any situation where it would be legal to use any other deadly weapon.
When first reading the headline I automatically assumed the office was out of line. After the first paragraph I realized the kid's parents are the ones in the wrong. Allowing your 9-year-old child to get to over 200lbs should be considered child neglect. He should have tased the mom after the boy was handcuffed!
If that kid was spanked long ago this probably would not have happened. Why is he so heavy? Who allowed that to happen? This officer did what he had to do. I do not believe he wanted to do it; he had NO choice. I guess jerking then around and throwing them on the ground then putting a knee in the back while being cuffed is better. It's funny, if a parent does that they go to jail. Because a parent can't chastise that happens to a lot of kids. Get the government out of the homes and out of the schools and God back in.
God Bless,
Fran
I remember when police officers were able to handle troubled children without electrocuting them. They, just like the rest of americans, have gotten way too lazy and take the easy way out. The child probably deserved a smack upside the head, but electrocution is a little extreme. I have no problems with a child being man handled, but electrocution is not an answer. There is a reason they are called less lethal and not non lethal, they can and still do kill people.
I am wondering how tall he is. If he is 6 foot or taller, then the weight is not really that out of line. And before someone jumps on me, look at high school and college football players. Some of those are around 6 foot or taller, and weight more than this kid does.
If that kid was like some of the football players, tall and big, then I don't blame the cop. There is not enough info for a person to make a resonable opinion. But that sure hasn't stopped a bunch from posting their opinions, has it? Also, no size on the mother, or father, if he was around.
A 250 lb 9 year old, enough said. But a taser? If the kid does not want to go to school, then let him be morbidly obese at home. Cut off all aid, and let mom teach him.
You just said it! A MORIDLY OBESE NINE YR.OLD at 200 and 250 lbs and they're worried about him going to school? What's being done about that about the kid being so FAT?The kid at that weight should be dead!
I can't believe everyone on here more concerned on here about this kid going to school than the condition this kid is in. He's a walking time bomb,not only emotionally, but physically.
Which is more important,keeping the kid Alive or having him dead because of his weight.He's a sick kid,in more ways than one.
Unbelievable!
Methinks they need to hook the taser up to the fridge door.