Bartlett noticed the fire in his sister’s room when he returned home and went into the room to be sure that she was not there. He then ran through the house looking for others. He returned to the burning house to locate the sleeping girlfriend of his cousin.
The resident, Mike Bartlett, said he was returning from downtown for his cell phone when he noticed his sister’s room on fire. He ran in to make sure she was not there and continued to find his friends in the basement and alert them of the fire. He said his cousin’s girlfriend was sleeping upstairs so he went back in the house to retrieve her.
“As I was running downstairs, I could hear the window glass popping because of the heat,” Bartlett said.
When he went outside, he found police officers standing in the driveway. He claims that they dismissed him when he approached for help but then, as he walked toward one of his friends, they tackled him and tasered him. The officers claim that he was combative and intoxicated.
Bartlett also complains that he was given no medical attention and was only taken to a hospital after his court appearance despite the fact that he had first and second degree burns.
This is not the first time that police have arrested a man after he tried to rescue people or pets from a burning building, here, In another case, a son was tasered for trying to rescue his Dad — who proceeded to drown in the water.
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