Traffic-Stop Taser Cop Acted "Reasonably"

(AP)  A Utah trooper who used a Taser to subdue a stubborn motorist who was walking away from him during a traffic stop felt threatened and acted reasonably, state officials said Friday.

Trooper Jon Gardner remains on leave, primarily for his safety, after numerous anonymous threats were made against him, said Supt. Lance Davenport of the Utah Highway Patrol.

Gardner twice zapped Jared Massey with a Taser when the driver walked away and refused to sign a speeding ticket on Sept. 14. The incident was recorded on Gardner's dashboard camera. Massey filed a public-records request and posted the video on YouTube, which said it has been viewed more than 1 million times.

"We found that Trooper Gardner's actions were lawful and reasonable under the circumstances," Davenport said at a news conference, joined by Scott Duncan, commissioner of the UHP's parent agency, the Utah Department of Public Safety.

The investigation was conducted by officials in the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the highway patrol. The officials have asked the Utah attorney general's office to also review the case to determine if laws were broken.

Massey was not at the news conference and could not immediately be reached for comment.

The video showed Massey arguing about whether he was exceeding the speed limit on U.S. 40 in eastern Utah. Massey got out and walked to the rear of his vehicle. The trooper pulled out his Taser when the driver tried to return to his seat.

Massey shrieked, fell and said: "Officer, I really don't know what you're doing."

"Face down! Face down! Put your hands behind your back," Gardner said.

When Massey's wife emerged from the passenger side, the trooper ordered her to get back in - "or you're going to jail, too." Moments later, when another officer arrived, one of them said, "Oh, he took a ride with the Taser."

Davenport said that comment was inappropriate.

Officials said Gardner could have issued the ticket without Massey's signature. The investigation found use of the Taser was justified because Massey had turned his back and put a hand near his pocket, Davenport said.

"For a law-enforcement officer, that is a very, very scary situation," he said.

Nonetheless, the trooper now realizes that other options were available, Davenport said.

The UHP has received thousands of phone calls and e-mails since the video was posted online, many of them critical of the trooper. There also have been online threats against Gardner.

"I think mostly it's people blowing off steam, and that's fine," Sgt. Jeff Nigbur, a UHP spokesman, said Friday before the investigation's conclusions were announced. "But you can't say you're going to endanger somebody's life."

He said there was no evidence that the trooper's life is in danger. Massey has pleaded for the online threats to stop.

Tasers use compressed nitrogen to fire two barbed darts that can penetrate clothing to deliver a 50,000-volt shock to immobilize people.

Tasers are manufactured by Taser International of Scottsdale.

[weck9406]

Remind me to never go to Utah.

[candide777]

when they do, you''''ll complain, i guarantee it.
Posted by nggr at 08:27 PM : Dec 03, 2007

Sorry, I''m a little too smart to get tazed by a cop, though some probably would do it just so they can sue like Massey apparently intends to do. I wish I were in the jury pool. I''d render a verdict in favor of sending that impudent little twerp to bed without his dinner.

[candide777]

tasers can easily kill, so the hypothetical is not far removed from reality, and you would say the cop had every right, and should go un-punished.
geez, and who''''s for anarchy?
Posted by nggr at 08:12 PM : Dec 03, 2007

When a cop yells at you to put your hands behind your back, you ought to expect that the consequences of failing to comply will be unpleasant. I might question a cop if I disagree with what he is doing, but by the time he''s yelling at me to put my hands behind my back, I''ll probably figure it won''t hurt to comply whereas failing to comply might be dangerous.

[nggr]

making the cop anxious by behaving the way he did.

Posted by Candide777 at 08:21 PM : Dec 03, 2007


the cop didn''t look anxious, he looked angry.
and the burdon is on the officer to keep control of himself in this case.
i dont think that someone wanting to argue with me about a speeding ticket would suprise me or scare me if i were a rookie cop.
whatever, say dude over-reacted, he did not deserve 10 full seconds of 50000 volts, period.
and i''m sure you''d be a whiny little b*tch worse than he if a cop tazed you, seeing that you think no cop would do it.
when they do, you''ll complain, i guarantee it.

[candide777]

you shouldn''''t complain about that, your family will survive inflicting similar damage on the gene pool as well. effecting a semi-slave/police state in which no-one is allowed to question authority.
Posted by nggr at 08:09 PM : Dec 03, 2007

oh, please, you really think that''s what was going on here? what you had here was an apparently inexperienced officer who got spooked when some idiot reacted irrationally to recieving a speeding ticket. To be sure, the officer has learned something from the incident, but there''s no need to create a federal lawsuit out of this. Massey would have avoided being tazed if he had conducted himself reasonably, and he has no one to blame but himself. You watch the news story and you can tell what a HUGE baby he is; he''s the type who blames everyone but himself for his problems, which apparently go well beyond his inability to appreciate that traffic stops can be very dangerous for officers. Had he not been such a self-centered baby, he might of realized that he was making the cop anxious by behaving the way he did.

[nggr]

Posted by Candide777 at 08:05 PM : Dec 03, 2007

you''re serious, if the guy would have died you would still say the cop had the right.
insane, completly insane.
tasers can easily kill, so the hypothetical is not far removed from reality, and you would say the cop had every right, and should go un-punished.
geez, and who''s for anarchy?

[nggr]

Posted by Candide777 at 08:05 PM : Dec 03, 2007

you shouldn''t complain about that, your family will survive inflicting similar damage on the gene pool as well. effecting a semi-slave/police state in which no-one is allowed to question authority.

[candide777]

Posted by nggr at 08:02 PM : Dec 03, 2007

I''ll translate -- had Massey not survived, it would be one small evolutionary step forward for humankind -- as it stands, Massey will get paid a huge lump sum, he''ll continue to breed, and his children will end up as spoiled, stupid and unable to contribute to society as he is.

[nggr]

Score one for Charles Darwin! :)

Posted by Candide777 at 07:58 PM : Dec 03, 2007

that makes no sense.
and you are avoiding the question.

[nggr]

acting like some hysterical idiot
Posted by Candide777 at 07:55 PM : Dec 03, 2007

didn''t see that. i saw him refuse to sign the ticket, i saw the cop order him out of the car (and turn his back on the "threat" for the majority of the confrontation),i saw the officer stomp over to his car and, lay down his clipboard, face massey, and immediatly draw his weapon. i saw massey get scared and probably confused about what was going on, and the cop tasered him.
i did not see any threat posed to the armed officer by the un-armed massey. i cannot see what you define as hysterics. i only can see rash judgment by the officer.