Colorado man dead after "over-the-counter brand" taser used

It was only a matter of time before one civilian killed another with a "taser/stun gun/ecd/cew/over-the-counter-call-it-whatever the hell you like" and I suspect we will begin to see many more such incidents in the months and years to come. I am not going to add these incidents to the official body count on this site - I will leave it up to someone else with a lot more time on their hands to start keeping track of the civilian attacks on each other.

See excited-delirium for further analysis of the situation.

By Meaghan Collier
Monday, April 27, 2009 at 5:21 a.m.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- According to Colorado Springs police (CSPD), a man is dead after an incident which occurred early Monday.

It happened at 4 a.m. at 2700 Wingerbourne St. Police say they arrived at the residence to find a man who was not breathing and a second male who might have been suffering from a seizure.

Medical personnel were requested and CPR was started on the unconscious male. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene and the second male was taken to Memorial Hospital for treatment.

CSPD officials continue to investigate the death and say the man was allegedly struck with an over-the-counter brand electroshock device which was found and recovered at the scene. It is not know what, if any, contribution this device may have had in the death, nor has it been fully determined if the device was even used and/or is functional.

Only the coroner can determine if the death was a homicide.

No additional information has been released about the incident.

Taser company tells Pittsburgh panel tasers don't kill

Ayup.

November 13, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- On Thursday, the Allegheny County District Attorney held the first meeting of the Use of Force Working Group to investigate the use of Tasers.

At the meeting, members of the group heard expert testimony on the use of Tasers.

The task force was formed after the death of Andre Thomas, who died in August after Swissvale police used a Taser to subdue him.

An autopsy on Thomas showed the Taser did not kill him, but m edical examiner Karl Williams said, "I believe we as a community need to continue to investigate incidents where lethal force is used. "

Peter Holran, who is with the Scottsdale, Ariz., company Taser International, testified in City Council chambers that research supports the claim that Tasers do not kill.

He said there are 17 studies on Taser devices and they dispute that the weapon has lethal potential.

Holran said, “In each of these studies, the conclusions have shown that electrical impulses from a Taser device is incapable of causing death in a human being."

Jay Kehoe, another Taser International employee with police experience, testified that he volunteered to have a Taser used on him 28 times.

Kehoe described the experience, "If you could imagine having the worst muscle cramps in your arms and legs. To me it was a very uncomfortable feeling. I could hear everything --feel everything."

The panel plans on having additional hearings in the future and will eventually make recommendations on police Taser use.

What if they threw a taser party and no one came?

Fort Myers gun shop hosts Taser party, but guests are no-show
Owner says his plan may need tweaking
BY GABRIELLA SOUZA • GSOUZA@NEWS-PRESS.COM • AUGUST 31, 2008

First it was Tupperware and Mary Kay cosmetics.

Now it's Tasers.

Fort Myers gun shop Guns R Us is the latest to sell its wares via a community gathering, or a party, of sorts. But unlike mascara and food storage containers, this product is a nonlethal weapon capable of giving an attacker a 50,000-volt jolt.
Guns R Us' owner Brian Waldron decided to hold the parties at his shop at 2075 Broadway because an influx of people came to his shop within the last six months inquiring about Tasers. Waldron estimates he's sold about 30 Tasers in the last two months. Tasers carry the jolt to the attacker by firing two darts.

"We've been running into more and more people who aren't gun friendly," he said.
On Saturday, Waldron planned to hold the first party. He'd scheduled a certified Taser instructor, passed out about 400 flyers and laid out refreshments.

But by noon, an hour after the party's scheduled start, no one had showed up. Waldron said he had been expecting about 50 people.

"You go and do it, and now where is everybody that wants to do it?" Waldron said.
But he wasn't dismayed. This was, after all, the first try, and Waldron admitted maybe his plan needed tweaking. Perhaps he should hold a party in a woman's home, channeling the success of those party products that have come before the Taser, he said.

The $300 Taser model Waldron was peddling is different from the one carried by law enforcement. On the law enforcement Taser, the darts the device fires can travel 30 feet and a civilian Taser travels 15 feet.

That's to ensure in a civilian-officer confrontation the officer would have advantage, said Charlie Mesloh, associate professor in the Division of Justice Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University and director of its weapons and equipment research institute.

Mesloh said Waldron's idea is not unique; he has heard about Taser parties occurring across the country. And Taser International, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company that makes the weapon, also holds seminars on Tasers.

"It's certainly a good marketing technique," he said.

Carrying a Taser for self defense does not require a permit in Florida, although you must be authorized to have one at a school. And if you buy one, Taser International will do a background check and if you have felony arrests, you may have to give back the Taser and receive a refund.

Lt. Dennis Eads of the Fort Myers Police Department has no problem with his neighbor Guns R Us holding the gathering, although he said if it was up to him he wouldn't call it a party.

"It's not different than if they were having a firearms display," he said.
Eads, who trains new officers in Taser protocol, has been Tasered at least half a dozen times. "It hurts," he said. "It's like losing all control of your entire body. You can't move; it completely immobilizes you."

Eads said he only knows of bounty hunters and bail bondsmen who own Tasers now, but could see more people in the future opting to buy Tasers.

Lorie Fridell, associate professor of criminology at the University of South Florida, said her worry about the availability of Tasers was the device could fall into the wrong hands. "It could be used by a spouse against a spouse, a parent against a child," said Fridell, who is doing research on Tasers.

Eads' concern with more people buying Tasers is owners won't know how to properly work it, since no training is required to have one. Hitting someone with the darts isn't as easy as it looks, Eads said. "It could be as dangerous as it is helpful," he said.

Makers of tasers aiming to appeal to public

"The idea is to get the weapon in front of soccer moms." ... Steve Tuttle, Taser International

"The natural progression for this is it's going to be in department stores." ... Steve Tuttle, Taser International

"We want to make sure the good guys have this." ... Steve Tuttle, Taser International

August 4, 2008
Rick Armon, Akron Beacon Journal

TravelCenters of America offers everything imaginable that a highway traveler might need. Fuel. Hot showers. Satellite radio systems. Full-service restaurants. Truck repairs. And now . . . Tasers.

The national chain has teamed up with Taser International to sell the stun gun at its 163 truck stops, including sites in North Canton and Lodi.

It's the first time in years that the Taser has been sold in a retail setting other than a sporting goods or firearms store. The move is part of the company's strategy to market the weapon to a more mainstream audience and eliminate the perception that Tasers are reserved for law enforcement authorities only.

TravelCenters of America provides great exposure because travelers are often concerned about personal security, especially if they are on the road alone, Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said.

About a year ago, the majority of sales were direct to customers, but the company has started selling them in sporting good stores and through firearms dealers. The idea is to get the weapon in front of soccer moms, Tuttle said. "The natural progression for this is it's going to be in department stores," he said.

TravelCenters workers at the North Canton and Lodi sites declined to comment. The
weapons weren't on display last week, but the workers said they were behind counters and available for purchase.

A corporate spokesman didn't return a phone call after asking first to listen to the questions posed by a reporter. The company, based in Westlake, operates under the names TA and Petro in 41 states and Canada.

A spokesman for the Ohio Trucking Association said the trade group had no opinion on the deal.

"I think that people who are on the road feel less secure than people who are in their home area," said Dale Lewison, professor of marketing at the University of Akron and director of the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing. "From that standpoint, it would be a reasonable fit that a truck stop operation would do that."

How they work

Tasers, which provide incapacitating 50,000-volt electrical shocks, have been controversial because people, including several in the Akron area, have died after being shocked by authorities. Amnesty International has estimated that more than 291 people have died from Tasers in the U.S. since June 2001.

And critics have argued that the weapon should be banned.

Taser has been selling the weapon to the public since its inception, including through retailer Sharper Image at one point in the 1990s. But consumer sales never took off and the company focused on law enforcement instead, Tuttle said.

Now the company is attempting to move back into the mainstream market.

"Fear is a very powerful marketing appeal," Lewison said.

However, he questioned how well the Taser would sell at a department store. Instead, it likely would do well at Kmart or Wal-Mart, he said.

Since the C2 Taser was introduced in July 2007, 31,600 have been sold. Ohio is one of the top five states for Taser sales, Tuttle said. The C2 Taser being sold at TravelCenters, sporting goods stores and on the company Web site for $349.95 differs from the law enforcement version. That main difference involves range, which is limited to 15 feet for the consumer.

The range is shorter because the company wanted the weapon to be "defensive in nature," Tuttle said.

The Taser also won't work when taken out of the box. The customer first must obtain a special code by undergoing a criminal background check and providing personal information to the company, he said. Whenever it is used, it also sprays coded confetti that allows law enforcement to identify the weapon.

"We want to know who you are," Tuttle said. "We want to make sure the good guys have this."

Mixed feelings

Paul Hlynsky, president of the Akron lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he has mixed emotions about more people owning Tasers. "We respect the right of citizens to try to defend themselves," he said. "But our officers are very well trained on Tasers. Certainly it's a concern that people will get hurt and will hurt other people."

Florida teens charged in stun-gun attack and rape

July 18, 2008
The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — A 13- and 15-year-old were arrested after they broke into a woman's home, jolted her with a stun gun and raped her while her baby was sleeping nearby, police said Thursday.

The teens confessed and were charged with armed sexual battery, armed burglary, kidnapping, and armed robbery, Miami Police said.

Police said the 21-year-old woman heard a knock on her front door on May 23, but ignored it. She later noticed the door was ajar and when she turned, she was hit in the back with a Taser. The teens took her into one of the bedrooms, covered her face with a shirt, and raped her, police said.

The victim begged for her life and the life of her child who was in a nearby bedroom. The infant was not harmed, according to a statement from police.

The home was also ransacked and cash and other items were stolen.

The Associated Press is not naming the suspects because of their age. The State Attorney's Office has not yet determined whether they will be charged as adults.

Another suspect was involved in the crime, but detectives have not charged him, police said.

Truck stops (in Amerika) to offer personal taser weapons

It's official - they're nuts down there. It's already been widely reported that citizens in the United States can buy "personal" taser weapons at Tupperware-type parties. They're sold by the manufacturer in a stunning array of designer colours and patterns. They even come equipped with mp3 players.

And now, truck stops in the US will offer personal taser weapons for sale to Joe Public. Even as police grapple with what to with citizens who would turn these personal protection devices upon each other. The only way these weapons could ever be considered personal protection devices is when *everyone* owns one. And the winner will be he who can zap the fastest. (Former Jeopardy contestants will have a definite edge.) I'm sure this is what Taser International intended - a taser for every man, woman and child in the madhouse known as the US of A.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania police are investigating two cases where the victims were first Tasered by the suspect, then robbed.

Over in Manchester, New Hampshire, three teenagers have been charged in connection with a robbery in which another teenager said he was shot with a stun gun.

And down in Lubbock, Texas, investigators are working to identify the person that, on two different occasions, pulled a taser gun on his victim and tried to rape them.

Truck stops to offer personal taser weapons
July 16, 2008
By JON CHAVEZ, Ohio Blade

Very soon, truckers and motorists will be able to buy a jolter with their jolt of java at TravelCenters of America Inc. truck stops, 11 of which dot Ohio's roadways.

TravelCenters, based in Westlake, Ohio, said last week it had reached a deal with Taser International Inc. to begin selling Taser weapons at its truck stops starting this month.

A clerk at the TravelCenter truck stop in Stony Ridge, where I-280 connects to the Ohio Turnpike, said the gift shop there had not received any shipments of Taser stun weapons.

However, Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser International, said the company began shipping the devices to TravelCenters the last week of June.

The pairing between Taser and a chain of truck stops is the first in which the defense technology company will sell its products in a retail setting other than sporting-goods stores or licensed firearms dealers.

"We were approached by them, but it fits with our vision of getting our products into more mainstream stores," Mr. Tuttle said.

"Anybody's that's traveling does have concerns about personal safety. For the trucker away from his family, he might want one or think that his wife could use that while he's gone, or his daughter at college could use one," Mr. Tuttle said. "So this was something that's a pretty good fit for us."

TravelCenters will sell the devices at its TA and Petro truck stops. Officials from TravelCenters did not return calls seeking comment.

Tasers shoot barbed probes that deliver an incapacitating electric current or can be used as contact stun devices. The C2 Taser model, designed for personal use, sells for about $300 without frills, or $350 for one with a laser sight that pinpoints where the barbs will go.

"They're nonlethal and they're really catching on," said Theresa Cleland, owner of Cleland's Outdoor World on Airport Highway.

"We only sell them with laser sights. That way, you know where it's going. Some come without lasers but I don't sell them because a miss with a Taser doesn't do you any good," she said.

Customers who buy Tasers at TravelCenters shouldn't expect to be able to use them immediately. Taser requires that buyers pass a $10 background check before giving them a code to activate the weapon.

"If it's misused, we have the ability to track that too," the company spokesman said. "It contains 20 to 30 pieces of tiny confetti that match back to that unit. If you use it, it's akin to leaving a business card that is tiny and discreet, but the police know what to look for."

Taser Used in Carjacking

Here's a shocking example of what happens when ordinary citizens are allowed to carry tasers - and I'm sure we ain't seen nothin' yet. If Taser International has its way, we're all going to hell in a handbasket.

Omaha police have arrested a man accused of repeatedly using a taser on a woman in order to steal her car. The woman, who asked not to be identified, tells Channel 6 she knows the suspect. The victim called 9-1-1 late Thursday night from a gas station at 52nd and Northwest Radial Highway. She says she was giving the man a ride when he repeatedly shot her with a taser and handcuffed her in the back seat of her car. After driving several blocks, the suspect apparently let her out of the vehicle and she called police. Police tell us they did book someone into custody, but his name and specific charges have not yet been released. Police also confirmed the victim knows the suspect.