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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
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A 200 to 250 pound 9 year old????? Unless he is 5' 8" or something like that ,he needs to go on a diet bad.
I thought parents were the ones that were legally responsible if a child was truant; I did not realize that a child could be arrested for truancy. I understand that his child is very big for his age, but I do not see how it is acceptable to expect a 9 year old to act older than his age and to understand how a taser would affect him. Nine year olds flail around and try to avoid doing what you want them to do when they get into trouble. I understand that the parent and officer were frustrated, but it is just not okay to use that type of force on a child for throwing a temper tantrum.
Am I reading this correctly? An Ohio Police officer cannot subdue and detain a 9-year old boy without the use of a TASER??? I guess we're lucky he had that, otherwise he'd have put three rounds into her; center mass. This douche is not fit to wear a badge. He should be stripped of his rank & brought up on charges.
Jim, try reading the article. The KID weighed 250 lbs. What would you have done? Picked him up and carried him to the police car? Or just left him alone. Let him decide if he wants to go to school or not. And then when he is 18 let him decide if he wants to get a job or not. Because no one is going to make him, it might HURT him.
So for liberals the answer is, if a cop says do something, just say NO. They can't force you> That would be MEAN. And we wonder why we have some many kids murderers. They know that they can do anything they want because if anyone tries to stop them the ACLU will come to their rescue.
the kid is nine and weight between 200 and 250. Sounds like protective services need to open a case against the mom
Why is it all her fault? They should put him in another home so he can torture someone else's family instead of his own? The kid didn't get a truancy notice for faking sick a day or two that week, he didn't get to weigh 250 lbs because he ate too much candy at halloween, and he didn't disobey the direct orders of his mother and a police officer because he was having a bad day. Clearly he has issues, and clearly his mother is in a terrible situation not being able to control her child.
Why is it her fault because she's an IDIOT for letting a 9yr. old get that BIG! That's why?
You just said it.Clearly he has issues not just only emotionally, but 200 to 250lbs worth of issues.A lot of Issues that can kill him! A mother better have some concern,mot just some concern, but a hell of a lot of concern.
What the HELL is being done to address his 200 to 250lb issues?Nothing!
Obviously she is not in control of him, he is in control of her.
There you go another great story from the fly-over states, (that's why we fly over them) A hick cop displaying his macho power, I only hope the state takes care of this abusive twink cop.......
Perhaps the officer should have bribed his fat A$$ with a HO HO.
This is just plain and simple stupid. Think they have problems with this kid now? This was overreation at its finest. Someone tasered my kid (unless he was threatening or violent) then I would own this school district once the lawsuit was filed. Geez.......
I bet you could have bribed this kid with Twinkies.
I have been in many states, but being in Ohio I have to say the law enforcement here think they have the right to do whatever they feel. They can walk into anybodys home at any given time with no warrant of any type and it is ok. Before you all ask, no I am not a law breaker, I just really dislike the law breakers that have badges.
Are you morbidly obese and nine years old and disobeying a police officer while skipping school, too?
What about some counseling for the family that allowed this kid to get that FAT by nine years old? I'm sure we're only hearing part of the story here.
Headline 9 year old tazed, but it's a 200- 250 pd kid, who apparently is out of control, and needs to get off the couch, and be put on a diet! No real story here!
Cuz that's how we roll here in America. Electrocute the 9-year olds.
I think there is really more to this story than what was reported. For all we know, the boy's mother called the police because she couldn't control him.. Perhaps she was at his wits end..
How many 9 year olds skip school?? Really?? First time I ever skipped school was in high school.. I got caught and never ever did it again I can say that much!!
When I first read this headline, I was in shock.. A little 9 year old being tasered?!?!? Then you start reading and realize that this is far from being a little 9 year old.. That's a pretty big 9 year old.. Ok ok.. a HUGE 9 year old.. I'm not making fun of his weight, but that is ridiculous for a child of that age or any child for that matter.. I don't care how big (as in tall) they are.. My cousin was towering over me at the age of only 12 when he reached the 6'0 mark, but even as solid as he was, he wasn't 250 pounds..
Now let's move on... We have a 9 year old throwing himself out on the floor like a 2 year old so the officer couldn't put him in handcuffs? The story even reads that his mother told him that he was either going to comply or get tasered.. Sounds to me like mommy dearest was okay with that.. Guess he had to learn a lesson? Maybe she was trying to 'scare' him straight by having an officer come put him in handcuffs and take him to the station for skipping school and misbehaving? Hell, I've heard of parents doing this for 5 year olds that steal to teach them a lesson!
I'm not saying the officer was right, but how many people can handle a 250 pound individual that doesn't want to be controled? Not many... The mother needs to be blamed for allowing her child to get that way..
This kid obviously didn't go outside and engage in physical activity very much. It's called playing. It's what kids did back in the day when I was a nine year old with a wiry physique. We played all day long until we were told to come in for dinner.
Can't do that anymore...the @!$%#ing perverts will steal your kids and rape them or the @!$%#ing gangbangers will shoot them just for walking.......
lol fat boy
For all that said the family needed help. I agree with that, but, in a town of 1,800, just where would that kind of help come from?
The FBI.
Who can remove the officer from duty permanently and place the child in temporary custody of the state, and arrest the abusive parent. Just as swift as I made that statement.
This is a clear cut case.
Based on the comments so far, this is really bad reporting. I also never cease to be amazed at how people leap to assumptions without checking anything other than a single source.
A little online digging reveals that according to the police report, this 9-year-old was between 5'-5" and 5'-8" tall. That's the average height for a 15-17year-old. Average for a 9 year-old is 4'-1" and over 5'-1" is off the chart for a 9 year-old.
This is actually a real problem for over-sized kids. The people who deal with them forget that even though they're dealing with an adult sized individual, they're really dealing with a child who sees things through a child's eyes.
I've seen this kind of thing first-hand. It's possible he gets a fair amount of ridicule at school, that he cannot engage in activities the same way his classmates do (imagine the damage he could do simply playing tag) and I could imagine that he gets held to a different standard of behavior and education by his teachers, more in line with what's expected of a much older child but... he isn't a much older child. He's 9.
As if that wouldn't be tough enough, you taser the kid. That's going to leave a lasting scar, I can assure you.
That was a bad call on the officer's part. I can understand why it happened but that doesn't excuse it.
You never get a full picture from a little page on a news line. No need to even speculate on the particulars. But if anyone refuses to comply with both a mother and a cop telling them to do something, Its time for action. Maybe he should have handed the Taser to mom.
See my comment below.
Learn the law. Because if I ever see anyone use a tazer on a child - I'll clean their clock myself. Tazers are tools of torture and that breaks the law.
ALL should be removed from all officers.
Maybe mom should have engaged the services of a child psychologist that could help the kid deal with his unique issues.
Hmm. I was replying to Monad-3377727. Have to figure out why the page jumps in Chrome. Always seems to land on a button I hadn't intended to.
Oh, and Mackie, for the record I agree with you.
.
Let me clarify by stating that this could have certainly been handled better.
That said I reference:
the deputy could not complete the arrest -- that is, truly control Plaintiff --
because Plaintiff was resisting. Third, the deputy resorted to using the Taser® only after trying to persuade
Plaintiff to cease resisting, after attempting to lift Plaintiff, and after repeatedly and plainly warning Plaintiff that
a Taser® would be used and then giving Plaintiff some time to comply.
this is from:
In Buckley v. Haddock,i the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reviewed a denial of qualified
immunity for an officer who faced a lawsuit based on his use of a Taser®.
In this case it was found within his rights to use the taser to get compliance.
The person he tasered was an adult, but the child is actually larger and probably as powerful as this man.
Actually, I don't think he and the mother should have tasered him, but I wasn't there and it was their call. Now we will see what the courts think.
Nope, we do not use physical force on truants. That is not adhering to the law. A citation is written, nothing more. And then the court schedules a hearing. Beyond that officers have no jurisdiction to use physical force.
Sorry.
Learn the law. This is outrageous and I hope the young man retains a strong attorney that will "clean the clock" of this officer.
And if the boy is about 200 pounds, but only 9 years old, sounds like a classic case of child abuse.
Do you hear yourself? a fat kid...child abuse??? THIS is the result of living in a NANNY state for the last 50+ years. Anything you do with your child that someone else agrees with is child abuse. What a crock of $hit
give a weapon to one idiot you have to give one to all, otherwise it wouldn't be sporting..
There is an underlying sadness to this story. The overweight 9 year-old is obviously teased mercilessly at school. Who knows what kinds of disabilities this child is suffering from? But no, the compassionate cop tasers the kid.
cant fix stupid and dumb, and it's obviously a case of idiot kid policed by another village idiot. so the kid is a total mess, but tasering a kid is just not a common sense approach. is he a danger to public? no, he's just destroying his own life aided by his family, so be it. is it the duty of the cop to taser the kid's ass back to school? no, thats just him using excessive force to show who's the man. i bet the entire village also vote for santorum too, he'll fit right in with these misfits idiots.
YEA! Taser him and while your at it spank his peepee! Here you GO! want SMORE!
Most of you had rude insensitve comments. At that weight I think he was getting bullied at school, and didn't want to go. He needed a counsouler, doctor and nutristionist to help him. 250 pounds or not this is just a kid, he is 9 years old. Maybe the doctor or someone should get him in an exercise program and eating healthy. He may have a medicial condition too, it's just so wrong for you to be so cruel and insesive to this kid. He is just a child. I imagine his self esteem is very low and just being mad fun of makes it worse. You need to pray for him not make cruel comments and make fun of this kid.
BINGO Mel! If something isn't done for this kid soon.He's going to be a Dead Kid!
Prader-Willi Syndrome comes to my mind. Somebody needs to get him to a specialist fast. See: www.pwausa.org/
The parent(s) should be charged with child abuse for letting the kid get that size at that age.