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Many police agencies across the state are wondering: When is using a Taser justified? Today, the Cache County Sheriff's Office is doing just that.
It all centers around a man who thought his house was on fire and went through a police barricade. The man drove his truck onto the sidewalk to get around the roadblock a Cache County deputy had set up. The deputy told him to stop, but the man didn't. Both sides agree on that. But what happened next and why is where you'll get two different stories.
Stanley Lewis lives in Smithfield. When he saw smoke yesterday, he thought it was his house burning. Not knowing it was his neighbor's shed, he drove home. Firefighters were in the road, so it was blocked. That's when Lewis drove onto the sidewalk. The deputy yelled at him to stop, but he kept going until he got home.
Lt. Matt Bilodeau, with the Cache County Sheriff's Office, says, "He gave no reasonable responses whatsoever. He made no attempt to communicate. He did not say he lived in the area."
But Rod Price, who saw it all happen, says that's not what he saw. He says, "He tried to explain that he lived at this house, and he [the deputy] said, ‘You're under arrest. Get on the ground!'"
That's when things got ugly. Lt. Bilodeau says, "The guy pulled away and then reached into his pocket. At that point, they felt like the threat had escalated. They tackled him to the ground."
Deputies say Lewis tried head-butting and kicking them. So, they used a Taser on him; not the kind with those wired barbs but one with an electric volt.
Price says Lewis was only trying to get in a better position because he was pinned in an awkward position on a slope in his front yard. "In my opinion, they used the Taser too much. I don't know what constitutes using a Taser or what's excessive force, but when a guy is handcuffed, he was handcuffed, and they're still tasering him, telling him to shut up and hold still," he said.
However, authorities say in all the chaos surrounding the fire, Lewis just wasn't listening. "This level of force, even with the Taser being deployed, is still considered to be a low level of force," Bilodeau says.
We contacted Lewis' wife by phone. She didn't want to comment, saying only that they're hiring an attorney.
Lewis spent a night in jail. After his arrest, police found a knife in Lewis' back pocket. That's the pocket they say he was reaching for before they tackled him to the ground.
Deputies also say they found marijuana and a pipe on him.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
