A New Mexico police chief said he was only trying to protect a 14-year-old girl when he used his Taser gun on her last week, leaving a huge gash on her head that required 18 staples and six stitches.
One of the Taser’s prongs penetrated her skull, sending 50,000 volts of electric current into her brain.
The girl, who has epilepsy, now has trouble walking up stairs and keeping her balance.
Tucumcari Police Chief Roger Hatcher said he had no choice because the girl was about to run into traffic.
But that was before the dash cam video was released which shows there was no traffic when he chased her into the street. And he didn’t even pull the trigger until they were on the other side of the street.
Now he is saying that he had to Tase her because he “didn’t know where she was going to go.”
Thanks to his valiant efforts, Kailee Martinez now might have permanent brain damage.
The incident started when Kailee and her mother were having an argument over explicit messages and photos the girl was sending to older men through her cell phone.
Police say Kailee assaulted her mother. Her mother then took Kailee to the police department in an attempt to control the girl or talk some sense into her or maybe just to scare her.
Big mistake.
Kailee took off running like the stubborn teen that she is. Chief Hatcher chased her into a local park.
She continued to walk away. He pulled out his Taser and threatened to shoot her. She started running. He shot her.
I guess that will teach her not to send explicit messages and photos to older men. Or maybe that will just teach her not to trust police.
On the bright side, the incident smoothed things over between Kailee and her mother. Now mom is more upset at the chief than at her daughter.
Hatcher is currently on paid administrative leave.
The incident makes you wonder whether or not police need more training in dealing with teens. We’ve all seen the video of the King County Sheriff’s deputy savagely attacking a 15-year-old for flipping a sneaker at him.
It makes you wonder how they treat their own kids.
Well here’s an indicator. In Florida, more than 40 children were zapped with stun guns while visiting prisons on “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.”
I guess I should be shocked, but I’m not.
