-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Florida Highway Patrol officer Daniel Cole used his taser to stop a fleeing Danielle Maudsley. As a result, Maudsley fell and cracked her head on the concrete roadway. Maudsley has been brain dead ever since and is not expected to recover.
Maudsley had been arrested in a hit-and-run case and taken to a Florida Highway Patrol substation for processing. Maudsley, clad in handcuffs, fled out the door of the substation with Cole running right behind her. Cole drew his taser and shot Maudsley in the back. Cole has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
It was Cole’s responses to investigators’ questions that are most troubling.
If she makes it [to U.S. 19], you know, there’s no winning. I can’t let her get out and get run over.
What self-serving tripe! This is exactly the kind of response that one would expect from someone who’s trying to come up with an excuse to justify their actions.
Cole was also concerned that one or both of them would be injured if he tackled her. Is tackling her the only alternative to tasering her? How about moving your 267 pound fat ass and grabbing her? Cole’s weight is three times that of Maudsley. Notice how Cole plays the “officer safety” card. This card is often played when justifying the use of excessive force.
The cracking of her head on the concrete roadway was an entirely foreseeable outcome of the tasering. This young woman is dead because the trooper couldn’t be troubled running after her.
H/T: Hit & Run, Tampa Bay Dispatch.
I don’t get it, people defend the cop by saying ‘we don’t know all the facts’. Yet when she runs they don’t use that line to excuse HER ACTIONS. Maybe she had a good reason to try to get away from them…(probably not, but then we shouldn’t accept a crappy excuse from the cop either!!)
He was right behind her and if he hadn’t of slowed to get his taser he could have caught her in two steps…no need for a surmised flying tackle either.
The only thing dumber than accepting the cops excuse is saying she could have been shot…deadly force for an ALLEGED crime!??!
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this idiocy when our President thinks he has the right to kill American citizens without a trial.
i have been known to make unlawful u-turns when they have the hot donuts sign on.
Pete….
I think you’re on to something…..
But Pete, those Krispy Kremes are tasty!
first she removed one cuff in the patrol car. the trooper stopped and recuffed her hands behind her back. while in the station the trooper left her alone on a bench unsupervised and she moved her cuffed hands in front of her. the trooper didn’t know this because he wasn’t paying attention.
no, she should not have removed her cuffs, no she should not have tried to run.
she should not have been able to remove her cuffs and she should never have been left unsupervised.
trooper lardass should step away from the krispykream and learn how to properly cuff a prisoner.
This is absolutely sick. She was HANDCUFFED for crying out loud, she was moving slowly, and all he had to do was almost reach out and grab her! He wouldn’t even have broken a sweat!
I have spoken to someone who is ex military intelligence and ex law enforcement (retired). He told me that tasers are only to be used in dangerous situations, where there is threat of harm. This does NOT qualify!
I’m reminded of the old man on his bicycle who didn’t stop when ordered too (because he was deaf). He was tazered and died. That was especially sick, because the cop had been called in the first place because the old man had FALLEN off his bicycle, and the person calling was afraid he might have been hurt.
Also, I fail to see what the comment about Pinellas County had to do with what happened here. I live in Florida, and have never heard that there is anything ”weird” about Pinellas County!
If fat LEO dies of cardiac during chase, murder?
To suggest that tackling/grabbing someone creates the same risk of death or serious bodily injury as tazing them does is completely nonsensical. It is not supported by any data or sound reason, and is really nothing more than a fantastic “what if.”
Raff,
Fair enough….
AY,
We will have to agree to disagree on this one. She posed no danger to anyone in her handcuffed state and very little danger to herself. The use of the Tazer brought danger into the situation.
Raff,
She was in lawful custody after being arrested…. She should not have run…..but she did…. I am rarely for the use of tazers….
If I recall nal….. She was handcuffed in the front….so based upon that… I am certain….. It would have made a hugh difference…..
Don’t get me wrong…. I usually am not in the corner of 99. Percent of any leo…. This one appears to be an exception in my mind….
AY,
The use of a Tazer is deadly force. It has killed people repeatedly.
Suppose he had run after her and grabbed her arm … would that have made a difference?
Raff,
We are talking Pinellas County Florida….. She was a white female…..if another race or sec…. I am almost certain deadly force would have been used….
AY,
First of all, he wouldn’t have needed to tackle her. But if he had and your suggested result occured, at least he was trying his best to use the least dangerous method of recapturing her. The tazer has been show time and again to be a dangerous weapon with deadly results.
Raff,
Suppose he had tackled her and the same result….would that have made a difference?
Great story David. I agree that the use of the taser here was excessive. What danger did she pose to the public in her shackled state? Just because she fled doesn’t mean that you should use lethal weapons to stop her. Police forces in major cities now realize that high speed chases are too dangerous in most cases. This situation is no different. A lazy cop made a bad decision and should be disciplined accordingly.
AY,
We usually agree, but tasers are not the least deadly option available to the officer. He could have easily caught up to her without breaking a sweat, without tackling her.
A couple of observations from the video tape. No one calls an ambulance. I dont see a serious head strike. Fatso doesnt remove the electrode very quickly. Junior is in no hurry to call for medical care. Tells her to lie down. Blazee about it.
He knew her name. She might have been running from him because he was acting like a perp.
The assumptions of use of deadly force by some of the folks commenting are the BS of the Tazer or Taser company. Deadly force. Period.
The video will kill them when the jury sees this. Soooo lackadaisical. Style of the case could be Braindead vs. Braindead et al.
What result would have made this outcome different? If he had tackled her… He could have crushed her… Never mind the fact that she was arrested for hit and run… At this time she was lawfully in custody…. He had the right to shoot her… Her decision caused this action..
I will say for the record that I have been to Pinellas County… They are about as red necked as you fan get….I usually don’t take the side of Leo’s….In this case I think they were justified….they used the least force possible… Unless the leo encouraged and baited her to run…It was all caught on a dash cam…..