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Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 08:51:54 PM EST
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Aurora police officers tasered a man who stole a salad at a Chucky Cheese children's restaurant tonight. A witness said the man was stuck in between two tables and offered to pay for the salad. Another witness said police were just looking for trouble. Parents present at the restaurant are really angry.

This is the same police department that failed to respond to e-mail requests and voicemails from prosecutors to sign off on an arrest warrant for Denver's alleged Capitol Hill rapist last week, now charged with 80 felonies.

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    Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad | 39 comments (39 topical)
    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 09:21:24 PM EST
    Sorry, I think I'm missing something here. If he hadn't left the restaurant yet, then who made the determination that he had stolen anything? Also, do the Aurora police have any guidelines or policies to govern the use of tasers?

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 09:31:40 PM EST
    I heard it on the news so I don't have a link yet or more information. They interviewed about five people live at the scene. I assumed he took the salad and ate it without paying, but you're right.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 10:36:22 PM EST
    Mark, that is what i want to know, what happened and at what place and for what reason? But its about right for cops, after all cops and gangs are one and the same, only with cops who can murder you with no trouble at all and think nothing of killing someone, same as a gang memeber, the guy is lucky not to have been shot to death.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 10:45:01 PM EST
    apropos of nothing, aurora colorado is skippy's home town! sounds like it's a lot more lively than when skippy lived there!

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#5)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 11:16:59 PM EST
    What is the deal with cops and their Tasers? Seems like every couple of weeks I see another story like this one where someone being sought for a minor offense is jolted up. Not too long ago, I heard about a woman in another town near Denver who was Tasered after she was placed in the back of a squad car. The cops didn't like the fact she wouldn't sit up straight so they could fasten her seat belt. Are cops just looking for reasons to volt somebody out?

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 12:10:39 AM EST
    Denver Post:
    On at least 21 occasions in 2004, Arapahoe County prosecutors were forced to drop Aurora police cases that they said lacked basic investigative details, or because they were unable to get officers to return calls.
    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 05:50:05 AM EST
    The Ministry of Love.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#8)
    by roger on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 07:45:40 AM EST
    "Police and theives in the streets, scaring the nation with their guns and ammunition...." Toots and the Maytals

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 08:18:08 AM EST
    I was Stunned by this story He should just be glad he didn't steal the "FREEDOM FRIES" :)

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 08:23:20 AM EST
    High voltage power corrupts. High voltage power in the hands of police Corrupts absolutely

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 08:53:51 AM EST
    These things are WAY overused. It is getting ridiculous, and a bit sadistic. I'm not for taking them away from the cops- but there needs to be some sort of policy outlining when they can be used- these are potentially deadly instruments, after all.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#12)
    by kdog on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 09:19:18 AM EST
    Great quote Rog, from a great track. I use it often. Way overused is right. Unfortunately, law enforcement seems to recruit lots of sadists.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#13)
    by Sailor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 10:51:33 AM EST
    Here's the Rocky Mtn News article Not much there so far.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 01:35:26 PM EST
    How much to taser me the next time my son makes an "A" on his report card and uses Chucky Cheese as his reward? -C

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#15)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 01:50:00 PM EST
    Cliff wrote: "How much to taser me...?" Careful, Cliff. You could set off a stampede in here. Haw.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 02:13:09 PM EST
    Home-tasering is going to replace the whip soon enough. When the kids are turned into microwave vegetables from over-zealous sadist-parenting, all we will hear from the Bushliars is how it saved the kids from a life of sin, or salad-stealing. The man is lucky he wasn't an Arab. The big cattle prods at the station, the water-boarding and anal penetration with mop handles, that's a lot worse than a Taser. Tasering is just foreplay.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 02:58:16 PM EST
    "Police and theives in the streets, scaring the nation with their guns and ammunition...." Actually, this is originally a Junior Murvin song. The Clash also did an amazing cover of this tune on their album entitled, simply, The Clash (scroll down foir a sample). Both versions are highly recommended.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#18)
    by pigwiggle on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 03:08:30 PM EST
    “These things are WAY overused.” Some random numbers; I have been unable to find any good stats on use, appropriate or not. In 2002 there were 13.7 million arrests; lets say 0.1% of these used a taser giving 137,000 uses; further lets say there were misused (overused) in only 0.1% of cases, we would have a misuse somewhere every 2 or 3 days. Now try 1% and 1%, we have 38 misuses every day. It seems either rate of use and misuse (0.1% or 1%) are low, but the encounter rate is very high giving a false sense of misuse, that is if all of these made it to the news.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#19)
    by Patrick on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 03:16:14 PM EST
    Pigwiggle, Well anything that relfects poorly on law enforcement is glorified by many here. Perhaps they should have shot this guy Thanks for the perspective.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 04:07:42 PM EST
    Patrick - It is a lost cause. Too many people think the police can just shoot the weapon out of the hands of the bad guy, or put a kick boxing move on him, or whatever. And when you explain how hard it really is to take someone down without really harming them, they get all queasy and don't believe you. The fact that Rodney King wouldn't stay down and got hurt and his passenger did, and wasn't harmed, just doesn't register.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 04:16:45 PM EST
    Paul and pigwiggle that was great, thank you. but the cops do use water boarding on many people inside jails and prisons and cattle prods are a normal way of doing business inside the walls. see key lee.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#23)
    by Sailor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 05:47:11 PM EST
    PPJ - There you go again, beating someone over and over with a club has nothing to do with cops tasering a misdemeanor suspect inside a restaurant. But I bet you I can beat you so often and hard that you are reduced to primal brain function and just want to get away, especially if several people are screaming unintelligible commands at you simultaneously. pigwiggle - making up stats is the current admins job, your went from assumption to specualtion. Can't we raise the level to a few facts? et al - we don't know the facts yet, a little patience (and facts) please until we can REALLY argue about it;-).

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#24)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 09:23:39 PM EST
    Fred, I wasn't joking. As for those who accuse me of being against law enforcement; that's hilarious. There is some humor in relative anonymity. What part of law enforcement is tasering some non-resisting possible petty criminal? No part at all. It's called 'testing the equipment.' It's ILLEGAL. Ask yourself how many farm animals have been tasered by local pd's just to see what happens. Maybe Aurora was fresh out of sheep and cows. Oh well, there's always schoolkids. TL, there's an 'allegedly' missing before the 'stole a salad' part of the post for this thread.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 09:45:30 PM EST
    Jim: "The fact that Rodney King wouldn't stay down and got hurt" Actually, King did get down to his knees as ordered. He refused to lie on his face. " and his passenger did, and wasn't harmed, just doesn't register." Oh, it registers, but it is another fact taken out of context, that context being a pattern of predations by police on blacks, with King's reasonable expectation of being assaulted further by police if he yielded fully to their authority. No one argues he shouldn't have been arrested; no one argues that the police should not have used legal force. It's the ILLEGAL FORCE that brought about the Federal Grand Jury indictments, and the jail terms for the officers. "Mr. King's provocative behavior eventually subsided. The Court recognizes that by the time the defendants' conduct crossed the line to unlawfulness, Mr. King was no longer resisting arrest. He posed no objective threat, and the defendants had no reasonable perception of danger." "Nevertheless, the incident would not have escalated to this point, indeed it would not have occurred at all, but for Mr. King's initial misconduct." 833 F. Supp., at 787." So here we are again at the case in point. The man should not, we may suppose, have eaten a salad before paying for it. The police, in turn, should not have Tasered a nonviolent suspect when there was no need for escalated force. The color of authority places a higher burden on the police not to violate the law, than on the salad-eater. And that's the rules, Jim. "  "Messrs. Koon and Powell were convicted of conduct which began as a legal use of force against a resistant suspect and subsequently crossed the line to unlawfulness, all in a matter of seconds, during the course of a dynamic arrest situation." "However, the convicted offenses fall under the same Guideline Sections that would apply to a jailor, correctional officer, police officer or other state agent who intentionally used a dangerous weapon to assault an inmate, without legitimate cause to initiate a use of force.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#26)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 10:00:21 PM EST
    Both quotes are from the Distict Court, as quoted in STACEY C. KOON, PETITIONER 94-1664 v. UNITED STATES LAURENCE M. POWELL, PETITIONER 94-8842 v. UNITED STATES No. 94-1664 SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 518 U.S. 81 Note that SCOTUS concurred with the District Court that the victim's behavior provoked the misconduct of the officers. That doesn't make it any less illegal; it does (and did) reduce their sentences.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 02:27:18 AM EST
    Personally, I'd like to see the rest of the story. Chuck E Cheese isn't one of those places where cops hang out for dinner. Why were they there? Were they called? Why? What led them to pull the tasers? You think tasering somebody at Chuck E. Cheese is fun for a cop? It's guaranteed to yield press attention, put you under a microscope, and make your life a living hell with paperwork and interviews. Of all the possible ways to resolve a situation, it's not at the top of the list of preferred solutions. I might point out to all the Taser opponents that police jurisdictions that have issued Tasers have seen a marked drop in police SHOOTINGS. Not that I'd advocate shooting somebody at the salad bar. But let's not lose sight of the benefits inherent in giving police a non-lethal alternative.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#28)
    by pigwiggle on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 05:49:59 AM EST
    sailor- “pigwiggle - making up stats is the current admins job, your went from assumption to specualtion. Can't we raise the level to a few facts?” Like I said, there aren’t any good stats on use yet. However, I think ballparking the numbers lends a bit of reason to the discussion. My point was, given the number of arrests a year, if there was the epidemic of misuse as portrayed by many here we would see several thousand misuses a year. As to what I was able to find; the DOJ began monitoring use of force a few years back, not specifically including tasers. Further, the stats are collected for contacts and not just arrests. Cincinnati has been collecting info on the use by their officers and has documented a drop in injury to the arresting officer and the arrestee. Since they haven’t been collecting for long I don’t know if the numbers are representative.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#29)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 06:15:43 AM EST
    Paul In LA - So Rodeny did part of what he was ordered to do? And you don't deny he kept on trying to get up. And you don't deny that his passenger followed orders and wasn't unjured. Then what is your point? That police may have harmed minorities? Okay. But does group harm excuse individual behavior? Well, it doesn't. Spare me the crocodile tears. As for the salad bar thief, I would like to know the rest of the story. There will be time enough to condem the police, and if needed punish them, when the investigation is done.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#30)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 06:20:04 AM EST
    Sailor - So what should the police do when a person doesn't comply? Run away? Let them attack the police? Both cases are, at this point, very similar, unless you are willing to believe that the police just walked in and tasered a guy who was eating a salad, and not bothering anyone. Yes, let's get the facts.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#31)
    by Sailor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 07:02:25 AM EST
    Let the games begin"In the case this weekend, police responded to Chuck E. Cheese's at 14005 E. Exposition Ave., near Aurora Mall, shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday after a manager complained that a patron had refused to show proof that he had paid for food. " [edit] "One of the officers kept poking the gentleman in the chest. He said, 'You don't have to do that.' He did not put his hands on them, and anyone in the Chuck E. Cheese would tell you that," Mayo said. She added that Gale's children were "screaming and hollering and crying" as the tussle continued. She said the officers knocked Gale down, forcing him to fall on the lap of her sister, who was sitting two booths away, holding a 10-month-old baby. "It was really bad," Mayo said. "All that for a salad. We were like, 'We'll pay for the salad.' It was not handled correctly at all." Mayo said the officers left the restaurant with Gale in handcuffs. His two children, still sobbing, remained behind until customers reached out to police to contact another family member.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#32)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 11:11:27 AM EST
    Sailor - Then sue the police. But let's don't use that one incident act as cover for everything. BTW - Most cases require more than one witness, acting for the plantiff.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#33)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 11:44:40 AM EST
    sorry I hit the wrong button... Sailor, you might want to consider this, from the link: "There's a lot of people, little ones, there," Martinez said. "Let's try to resolve this issue outside. But he just started cussing and using a four-letter word. He was yelling and screaming." Martinez said Gale escalated the encounter by shoving one of the officers. The two officers responded by attempting to put him in a wrist hold, but he continued flailing. "He's fighting with them. He's told he needs to settle down, but he won't do it. They fall into a booth," Martinez said. An officer used a Taser twice. .... "Management had asked him to stop. The police officers asked him to stop. None of this, none of this, would have taken place if this gentleman had done one thing - complied with the officers and went outside."

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#34)
    by Sailor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 01:59:42 PM EST
    Yep, I saw that. Standard CYA from the cops contradicting all of the eye witnesses.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#35)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 02:34:09 PM EST
    Sailor - Said eyewitnessess being family of the arrestee. Anyway, we now have your bias down pat.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#37)
    by Sailor on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 05:33:55 PM EST
    PPJ, what DA said. sheeesh! Yes I have a 'bias', it is called personal experience and we all have that bias. I tend to believe several uninvolved eyewitness accounts over the involved cops and their spokesman's agenda. BTW, it's possible that this guy didn't commit any crime. Just because he didn't keep his receipt, once I have a non-returnable product I chuck them, (no pun inten ... OK I intended the pun;-), and maybe he was offended by being called a liar and a thief in front of his kids. And before the nitrogenous waste hits the rotating airfoil, I don't think standing up for your rights sets a bad example for your children. I would object to being branded a thief by the mgmt and being humiliated and detained by the cops. If I knew I had done nothing wrong, I would object strenuously.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#38)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 03, 2005 at 11:51:38 AM EST
    That must have been some d@mn good salad

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#39)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 07:31:48 AM EST
    I Am very upset to hear that this happened. I would think that a police department would try to fix the way thay were doing things. If thay relized that thay have been doing things that are uniceptable. Don't you think thay would change there ways or at lest take responsibility for what there doing. Well thay haven't yet and I don't see them doing so any time soon. If thay can't even take responsibility how are we as citizens ever suppost to feel safe. I beleave we need to as citizens maybe start looking over alot of these cases that these cops have over looked. start pulling out officers names that could have handeled the situation differently. After we have gathered a number of situations involving the same officers. We as citizens stand up for our rights and start gainning back a little control over were are tax dollars are going. We are the people paying taxes so we are the people paying these BAD COPES wadges. I personaly hate to think that payed Officer: ERIC BOND, ANTHONY MARTINEZ & SEAN MICHELLS. For the time that thay were put on suspended leave with pay from the night of Dec 29, 2004 the night thay Brutaly Murderd My Husband and Three Childrens Father. Thay Wounded him 19 times 16 of them in the Back. Thay said my husband fired a gun at them. this is March and I have sevral times tried to get some answers from the APD thay refuse to answer. The Autopsy of my Husband came back the secound week of Febuary. This is all the answers I have got. It might be all the answers I need My Huband Was killed approx..2:00 to 2:30 am Shoot 19 times above the waste line and only one shoot to the left arm all the rest in the upper, middle and lower back. Imagen 19 times can you beleave thay took HANDCUFFS OFF MY HUSBAND at the CORNERS OFFICE at 11:00 am and thay still have no exsplination to why the Handcuffs. An in the Autopsy Report there is no prooff that my husband shoot off any weapon. I'll get my answers. I have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to the safty and protection of my Children and one day there children. I WILL MAKE EVERYONE SEE ONE DAY THAT A.P.D has a big hand full of DIRTIE, MURDERING, SERIAL KILLING COPS. One fine day I will make sure that justice is served for the 21 or so overlooked cases In the last 5 months. Im sure this is gonna be a big beginning to the end of the A.P.D as we know it today. MARK MY WORDS Amber M. Dawson We need help from everyone this is a a serious matter. My husband was like any other hard working human he wasn't perfect but I can prodly say that he's not a MURDER and we will be granted the time to be together again. I beleave that nobody has the right to play the role of GOD. There for nobody had the right to decide that Dec 29 would be the last night that my Babies would kiss there Dad goodnight.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#40)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 09:05:20 AM EST
    Have any of you read the article? The 19 year old man refused to step outside with the police. This was an individual looking for trouble. Would it have been better for everyone if the police would have said "There's nothing we can here, so we'll just leave". Then everyone can complain that the police won't do anything.

    Re: Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad (none / 0) (#41)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 10, 2005 at 02:51:26 PM EST
    Pete - how about detaining him.. Guilty of refusing to to step out side.. quickly, administer 50 000 volts of electricity! Trueblue hit the nail, I want to know what really happened. Here´s one (gruesome) side of the story

    Colorado Man Tasered Over Stolen Salad | 39 comments (39 topical)