A horrified sheriff has spoken out after a 72-year-old woman who refused to sign a speeding ticket was stunned twice with a Taser gun after provoking a policeman.
Video released by Travis County Constable's Office in Texas shows Kathryn Winkfein hitting the ground and moaning while the electric shocks jolted through her body.
It happened during a confrontation with sheriff's deputy Chris Bieze.
Travis County sheriff Greg Hamilton, whose office does not oversee the constables, issued a statement saying: "I do not personally agree with the actions of the deputy constable as they are shown in the video. When I look at the video, I am in awe of what happened."
Ms Winkfein was stopped for driving at 60mph in a 45mph zone just west of Austin. A dashboard camera in the deputy's car shows the 4ft 11in OAP refusing to sign her speeding ticket, getting out of her white pick-up truck and swearing at the deputy constable.
Mr Bieze then pushes her to get her away from traffic.
"You're gonna shove a 72-year-old woman," Ms Winkfein says angrily, standing inches from the deputy. "If you don't step back, you're going to get Tased," Mr Bieze says. "Go ahead, Tase me," Ms Winkfein says. "I dare you."
The video then shows Mr Bieze using the Taser and Ms Winkfein hitting the ground and moaning in pain.
Ms Winkfein was eventually charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanour punishable by up to a year in jail and fines of up to £2,500.
Constable Sgt Maj Gary Griffin of the constable's office defended Mr Bieze's actions and said Ms Winkfein was belligerent and difficult to handle.
Taser victim was grad student:
ST. GEORGE - A Northern Arizona University professor said he was horrified to learn about the death Tuesday of graduate student Brian Cardall after Cardall was Tasered by a Hurricane police officer.
"I am outraged and dismayed that such harsh tactics were used on such a kind and gentle human being," said Stephen M. Shuster, professor of invertebrate zoology at NAU where Cardall studied molecular ecology.
"He was a Science Foundation Arizona Fellow at Northern Arizona University and thus was a member of an elite group of graduate student scholars in this state - the intellectual cream of young Arizona scientists," Shuster said. "At Northern Arizona University, he was the standard against which all SFAz Fellows were judged."
Cardall, age 32, died after an incident on state Route 59 southeast of Hurricane. He suffered from a recent mental illness, according to statements family members made to KSL News, and the incident occurred after he began to suffer an episode while traveling with his family back to their Flagstaff, Ariz., home.
The Cardalls pulled off to the side of SR-59 to get medication, but Cardall left the vehicle and began running up the highway.
His wife, Anna, who is six months pregnant, then called 911 for assistance.
A Sheriff's Office statement Tuesday said Cardall was "agitated" and a Hurricane City police officer deployed a Taser to subdue him, at which point Cardall lost consciousness. Medical personnel treated Cardall at the scene within moments of the incident, the statement said, but Cardall was pronounced dead after being transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center.
Shuster said he was surprised at the revelation Cardall was suffering from a mental illness.
"There was no indication that he was having mental problems that I was aware of," he said. "He was a consistently friendly, hard-working, intelligent, witty and even-tempered guy. He was a devoted father and a caring husband."
Shuster said Cardall was poised to make a tremendous impact on the scientific community.
Given this second incident and the Dziekanski case, it seems to me that these weapons may be dangerous and are being used on defenseless people for incredibly minor transgressions.
