Police Tazer Great Grandmother

Blondie · Police Tazer Great Grandmother

A police officer in the US shot a 72-year-old great-grandmother with a Taser gun after she refused to sign a speeding ticket.

Film of the incident shows Kathryn Winkfein crumple to the ground moaning as electric shocks jolt through her body.

The pensioner was Tasered during a confrontation with Travis County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Bieze.

Mrs Winkfein was stopped for driving at 60mph in a 45mph zone just west of Austin, Texas.

A dashboard camera in the deputy's car shows Mrs Winkfein refusing to sign her speeding ticket, getting out of her white pickup truck and cursing at the deputy constable.

Deputy Bieze then pushes her to get her away from traffic.

"You're going to shove a 72-year-old woman?" says Mrs Winkfein angrily.

"If you don't step back, you're going to get Tased," says Dep Bieze.

"Go ahead, Tase me. I dare you," says Mrs Winkfein.

The video then shows further confrontation before Dep Bieze uses the Taser and Mrs Winkfein collapses to the ground moaning in pain.

She was eventually charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanour punishable by up to a year in jail and fines of up to $4,000.

Constable Sergeant Major Gary Griffin defended the officer's actions.

He said: "To tell somebody nine times to comply and step back. And on several occasions she was forcing him to back into the roadway himself. There's TV video all the time of officers getting clipped in that type of situation."

But Maki Haberfeld, an expert on police use of force, disagreed, underlining the fact that Winkfein did not appear to be in possession of a weapon nor did she display physical violence.

Given the fact she did not appear to be threatening anybody else's life, Mr Haberfeld said use of the taser was "a little bit excessive".

see the video here: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/200906...rs-great-grandmother-15af341.html

Saftlad

That cop must have felt in real danger for his life from that small violent granny, after all she looked like she could handle herself. I hope he doesn't meet someone that is intent on doing something really bad like not picking up their dogs mess.

Dolly Dimple

Thats absolutely disgusting

God she looks a nasty piece of work

Julie C

Scary

FlakeySugarButt

I'm going to be completey awful now. At the end of the day she was being uncooperative and I'll bet she thinks because she's getting on a bit she can get away with behaving like that. Not so. I'm not saying she deserved it, but what did she expect? If that's the protocol that's the protocol. She broke the law and had to be dealt with. If she's resisting then he was going to have to take further action.

Unfortunately it's the same with a lot of old folk. They expect to be treated soooo respectfully because of their age, but how often do a lot of them treat others in kind. The elderly can behave as children sometimes.

Midgie

Flakey as sad as it is...I must agree with you. Most Americans know the protocol. When we are pulled over, we are not suppose to get out of our vehicles unless asked. We are to keep our hands clear where the officers can see them at all times. This is for our safety as much as it is for the officers.

When an officer pulls someone over, the officers are put into a bad situation. They do not know if we have weapons. They are walking into an unknown situation. Too many officers have been shot, run over, and/or killed while making simple speeding stops.

She was starting to walk away from him while he was arresting her. What else should he have done...used physical force to wrestle her to the ground? She was not obeying the law. She was trying to walk in traffic (when he pushed her...he was protecting her). She was backing him into traffic. She was putting him in danger (maybe not with a weapon, but with the traffic).

Just play the scenario out in your mind. She walked away to the back side of the truck. If the officer would have pursued her, she would have picked up her pace and continued around the truck. Most likely she would have tried to run back to her driver's seat in order to get away from him at which point she could have easily been hit by a car. Either way you go, this man was going to have to use some sort of force to arrest her.

All she needed to do was sign the paper! It is not an admission to guilt when you sign, it is just stating that the officer is charging you with something. What did she expect was going to happen by not signing and by resisting arrest? She is lucky they have tasers now....much worse could have legally happened to her.

As a US citizen (who doesn't generally support my government's actions) I can say that this woman was very much in the wrong and was putting that officer (and herself) into danger. He could have wrestled her to the ground, but I think she could have been injured by that action as he was quite larger than her.

An honest question: How do you think this officer should have handled the situation?

Blondie

I can see his point of view, and i can see why he took the action he did take. But it just seems somewhat excessive to me, the force he used caused her to fall and as an elderly lady she is more easily liable to break a hip, it could also been that she was confused and/or scared.
If it was me i would have let her go, i'd have her number plate and i'd send her a ticket through the post, because all he was doing was putting both of them in danger for the sake of a ticket

Dolly Dimple

I agree with you both 100% but to Tazer her was way over over the top

I'm not a fan of the Tazer I think its an awful thing and shouldn't be used....

When I was in my last job I was in some awful situations but I was trained to calm things down, even when people were threatening to kill me

Surely this Policeman could of handled the situation better...

Saftlad

I dare say the officer is trained to deal with people of this womans age when they act in this way, after we all know some old dear that gets a bit snotty wehen they think someones having a go at their driving.

Lady Rachel

the police officer pushed her to get her out of the way of the road to keep her safe. I think the tazer was a bit much.

steel bat

She certainly was one grumpy granny. One would have hoped tho' that the officer would have been better able to cope with the situation without resorting to the taser.
After all, what would he have done a few years ago before these things were invented - shot her??