Man is Tasered after allegedly failing to comply with officers' orders

LAPD officers used a Taser gun on a man early this morning after he allegedly refused to comply with orders, authorities said.

Officers responded to a call about 1 a.m. of a man with a weapon on the Westside, but by the time officers arrived, the suspect, accompanied by two other men, had already left, said Sgt. B. Roberts.

A police helicopter tracked down their car at an undisclosed location in the Pacific Division, which includes Venice, Mar Vista, Palms, Westchester, Playa del Rey and LAX.

Officers stopped the car and two of the occupants complied with their orders.

“One refused,” Roberts said. “As a result, a use of force occurred.”

The man was taken to a hospital for treatment and arrested for disturbing the peace. Further information about the men was unavailable.

-- Seema Mehta

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

El Monte police officer claims repeated sexual harassment

Downey delays renaming street after space shuttle

Resident pistol-whipped in Northridge home-invasion robbery

Two more water main breaks: Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills

Judge orders Lindsay Lohan to Beverly Hills court over terms of DUI sentence

Woman killed, man injured in Huntington Park shooting

Sarkozy criticizes arrest of Roman Polanski

L.A. teachers union advised to sue to block potential hand-over of new schools to charter operators

Santa Monica loosens policy for street performers

Santa Monica tenants and property owners to mark 30 years of rent control

Agency buys apartment complex for Venice homeless

Deputies investigating possible robbery, kidnapping at the Commerce Casino

Comments

[Robert Smith]

This is news? Tasers are deployed regularly all over the LA County. It's like reporting that a single suspect failed to comply and was pepper sprayed. So what?

[Julian B Duron]

When will citizens understand; never argue with a judge and never argue with a police officer. You comply, even if you consider traffic stop harassment. I have been stopped many times DWB Driving While Brown and even have taken some verbal abuse by law enforcement. But I have always remembered the basic golden rule! Never argue with a police officer. Better to comply and reach out to his watch commander to file complaint later, than argue and become TASER practice or even worse.
What an idiot! You can be sure some ambulance chaser is calling him now.

[Pauli]

What is it with the Times and its use of the word "allegedly"? To this paper's writers, it seems, there are no actual crimes, only "alleged" ones, implying that the police invariably assault and arrest innocent bystanders. Not so long ago, the headline would have impartially read:

Man is tasered after failing to comply with officers' orders

But then again, not so long ago this sort of lazy pseudo-reporting would have been considered too insubstantial to publish.

[Robert Smith]

Pauli: The Times will say it's a legal issue of slander, where everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and they could get into trouble for saying that someone was definitely committing a specific crime/act...hence "allegedly". However, if you look closer, the Times has always had an editorial slant that is suspicious of/against law enforcement. This non-"news" item is a perfect example. I've yet to see a similar byline of "Officers avoid injury to themselves and suspect by deploying Taser"...

[grumpy3b]

Julian B Duron:

your comment reminds me that when I was a kid, early 70s, one of our neighbors was apparently a very GOOD aeronautical engineer and had a huge paying job. We lived in West Hollywood and he drove a convertible Mercedes...but problem was he was always getting stopped for DWB...I was completely appalled, even as a kid of about 10yrs old when he would tell us of times he would get pulled over while driving in Beverly Hills, where apparently DWB and in an expenisve car was, and I guess still is, at best suspicious and worst a crime...now he was in his late 30s if I recall and he always told us, his son and I were best buds, but he always said only once did he let his anger get the best of him...and the guy actually spent a night in JAIL for doing NOTHING wrong except letting the frustration get to him and mouthing off to the cops (two in a car back then).

I can honestly say that was the first time I ever really understood that racism was still around then. Us kids? Heck, we never even gave it a second thought...I was, and apparently still am a poor white kid...hehehe...but nobody was any color at all, we just were...still I consider it a lesson I learned when he passed along the wisdom to just not be confrontational with law enforcement...some are mean, many are stoopid/ignorant and most are none of those...still, never give them a real reason.

Thanks for posting your wise words to remind everyone what NOT to do...

[acninee]

I am concerned about the overuse of tasers. I suspect that because police consider them to be non-lethal, they feel they can use them in situations in which they would not use a gun. But we aren't sure yet that they are safe for all populations, especial when used on persons with heart defects. I think we need to create some guidelines and hold police accountable. This is not a race issue. Police should not be racially profiling to begin with, but no citizen of any color should be subject to the use of excessive force.

[Fed Up]

Where was racial profiling in this taser incident? People who may come into contact with police in a possible negative situation should have "I have a heart defect, please do not tase me" tattooed on their foreheads.