Police being called too quick on Taser's trigger

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2973197

Feeling the auras of an oncoming epileptic seizure, Robert Stanley called for help.

But it overcame him before the ambulance arrived, and Stanley, 30, was so disoriented that he fled from paramedics. With some difficulty, they were able to put him on a gurney, strap his lower body down and load him into an ambulance.

Baytown police, however, say Stanley was still unmanageable, so officer Edgar Elizondo had to subdue him with a 50,000-volt shot from a Taser. Though he suffered no lingering injuries in the July 19, 2003, incident, Stanley is now suing Elizondo and the department for excessive use of force — the third such federal lawsuit filed against Baytown over the use of Tasers.

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In the two other Baytown incidents, officers zapped a woman wearing a restrictive leg brace at least five times and shocked a 59-year-old woman who had called police to check on someone else's welfare, according to court records. The latter incident led to a rare indictment of the officer, who claimed the woman had threatened him with a brick. He was later acquitted.