Tucumcari Police Chief Roger Hatcher in New Mexico shoot a 14-year-old girl in the head with a Taser dart after she ran from her mother and police. Hatcher insists that it was the right thing to do since (I kid you not) he was afraid she might be injured if she ran into traffic. It falls into the rule that it is sometimes necessary to shoot a child to save a child.
The girl suffers from epilepsy and the dart penetrated slightly into her brain, according to her mother. Hatcher actually shoot at her twice –achieving the head shot at the first or second shot.
Hatcher says that it was the right thing to do: “There’s a lot of issues. She committed a delinquent act. She was running from police across traffic without looking.”
The girl was placed in pediatric intensive care following the surgery.
The mother had taken the girl to the police department because she was having trouble with her and her daughter proceeded to just walk away.
Hatcher insists that “[t]here was a lawful reason to do that. I didn’t have another choice and had to get her stopped.” Really? How about letting her go and pick her up later. You would then have a delinquent kid on the street rather than a kid in intensive care.
Hatcher delivered 50,000 volts to the girl’s head. He is now asking for charges to be brought against the girl.
If there is a sheriff in dire need of a lawsuit, this would be the one.
Hatcher has volunteered to take a leave from his office in Tucumcari, New Mexico, here.
For the full story, click here.
It’s funny how everyone CONVENIENTLY leaves out the fact that this girl physically assaulted HER OWN MOTHER, the woman who brought the girl into this world, because the girl’s mother rightfully tried to confiscate her cell phone because the girl was sending nude pics of herself to older men, (not boys, but MEN). I don’t think the officer DELIBERATELY tased her in the head. He was aiming for her TORSO, but UNINTENTIONALLY hit her in the head. The fact that she physically assaulted her own mother, she deserved to be tased just for that alone. It’s also funny how double standards work. In the Dr. Phil video, when the 10-year-old fat boy slaps his own mom, if you read all the comments being posted, 99% of them wish all kinds of horrible things to happen to that kid, and I guarantee that if HE’D gotten tased in the head, NOBODY would have ANY sympathy for HIM. In fact, most people would say that he deserved it, but when another child does the very same thing to HER mom, but that child happens to have a vagina, only THEN does that child get sympathy for being tased.
@yougottobekiddingme
I agree. Heil Hitler! He may be gone but his dream has been spread throughout the world. It’s even reached here. Perhaps I should become a cop and kill your kids infront of you. You dare not question it right?
I think the surgeon should be questioned. This is a small taser hook, why such a large cut? What happened to accountablity? When she gets really out of control and mom or someone else if beaten to death, we will all be saying, why didn’t someone do something. I stand behind the actions. When cops say stop, you stop.
“Drawing any conclusions about use the of tasers based on isolated instances of mishap may not portray an accurate record of their use, considering many factors that might be involved in the larger scope.”
NPO,
Studies about taser use would be a good thing, but as we both know that even if funding would be made immediately available, we’re looking at conclusions 3 to 5 years in the future. Meanwhile, this site alone has documented dozens of taser horror stories, where they have been misused and in many cases resulted in trauma and death. Action needs to be taken with this now and police need to be re-trained in its’ potential hazards and when use is appropriate. Stories such as this one show clearly inappropriate usage.
Drawing any conclusions about use the of tasers based on isolated instances of mishap may not portray an accurate record of their use, considering many factors that might be involved in the larger scope. I wonder if they are any such large studies to objectively and comparatively examine the safety and effectiveness of tasers. Such studies at a minimum, need to assess the rate of crime reduction, the rate of injury to suspects (with and without taser), the rate of injury to law enforcement (with and without taser), any civil complaints about use of force (with and without taser), etc. Such studies need to cover counties with different socioeconomic classes, and subsequently compare similar counties within a state.