Dashcam footage of cop tasing, dragging, and dropping teen is unsealed

[Luiz 4,253]

 

 

A federal judge on Monday unsealed disturbing dashcam footage of a suburban Kansas City, Missouri, police officer tasering a 17-year-old motorist who became brain damaged after what was billed as a routine traffic stop. That stop subsequently turned into an event of excessive force—resulting in a four-year prison sentence for Officer Timothy Runnels of the Independence Police Department.

The video shows Runnels tase and yank Bryce Masters out of the car and down on the street as Masters howls. The boy was filming the officer with his mobile phone, which the officer flings to the street. "Am I under arrest? Am I under arrest?" the teen is overheard saying before he is stunned and grabbed from the vehicle.

The officer drags the boy on the street like a sack of potatoes then drops him face first to the ground. During the brief 2014 incident, the boy, who was going to play Xbox with a friend, went into cardiac arrest and now suffers from brain damage. The traffic stop was based on a warrant from Kansas City, which turned out to be a mistake connected to the license plate on the vehicle the boy was driving. The officer claimed he also smelled marijuana and that the teen was being uncooperative.

The boy nearly died and was placed in a brief medically induced coma. The stun gun discharged and hit the boy near his heart for 20 seconds. He can be overheard weeping as the officer drags him following the Taser hit.

Local authorities did not prosecute Runnels. So the Justice Department, having dashcam and eyewitness evidence in hand, took the case to a federal grand jury which indicted the officer last year on two counts of excessive force and one count of falsifying the account. "Specifically, the defendant authorized and submitted a false and misleading official police report, which falsely described and omitted details concerning the force that he used against B.M. on September 14, 2014, and the circumstances that led to B.M.'s bodily injuries on that day, with intent to obstruct any investigation into the deprivations of constitutional rights described in Counts One and Two of this Indictment," according to the indictment (PDF). The officer agreed to plead guilty (PDF) to a single excessive force count in September and was sentenced June 1.

 

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/dashcam-footage-of-cop-tasing-dragging-and-dropping-teen-is-unsealed/

[Manul 7,377]

What a savage.

[Didymus 34,380]

Two idiots lol.

The dude definitely deserved to be arrested (edit: because he didn't exercise his rights correctly and resisted physically when the cop tried to get him out - don't quote me about this pls), but didn't deserve to be tasered and dropped like that, and obviously didn't deserve to be brain damaged.

The cop deserved what he got for giving a false account.

[Didymus 34,380]

I don't get it though, did he get so close to death just because of a taser? How dangerous is that thing exactly.

[nobody3089 250]

And I bet if the boy was black nothing would have been done. Only 4 years??? R u ****ing kidding me? He ruined that poor Boy's life. Smh 

[AlexanderLevi2 5,849]

3 minutes ago, Didymus said:

Two idiots lol.

The dude definitely deserved to be arrested, but didn't deserve to be tasered and dropped like that, and obviously didn't deserve to be brain damaged.

The cop deserved what he got for giving a false account.

Why did he deserve to be arrested? The cop gave no reason 

[Didymus 34,380]

34 minutes ago, AlexanderLevi2 said:

Why did he deserve to be arrested? The cop gave no reason 

He disobeyed very simple commands like 20x and didn't co-operate whatsoever. He only got arrested after refusing about 10x to step out of the vehicle.

This all could've been prevented if he just ****ing rolled the window down like the cop told him to

Edit: Which I know is not mandatory, but then at least don't refuse in a way that will definitely result in more trouble. This is the message for the story for me personally. Exercise your rights correctly or co-operate and hope for the best.

[Hecturr 1,937]

3 minutes ago, Didymus said:

I don't get it though, did he get so close to death just because of a taser? How dangerous is that thing exactly.

some of them have enough capacity to kill a man if need be lol

[AlexanderLevi2 5,849]

1 minute ago, nobody3089 said:

And I bet if the boy was black nothing would have been done.

As in the prison sentence or what actually happened?

Cause I have two totally different reactions depending on what you meant.

[Didymus 34,380]

Just now, Hecturr said:

some of them have enough capacity to kill a man if need be lol

Eek. Glad I don't live there then

[Kulture Kiari 3,433]

4 minutes ago, Didymus said:

I don't get it though, did he get so close to death just because of a taser? How dangerous is that thing exactly.

Are you serious? You can easily youtube videos. Even the small tasers are enough to make someone pass out. 

1 minute ago, Didymus said:

He disobeyed very simple commands like 20x and didn't co-operate whatsoever. He only got arrested after refusing about 10x to step out of the vehicle.

This all could've been prevented if he just ****ing rolled the window down like the cop told him to

There's a thing called rights. A person has a choice to refuse if they believe the cop has no reason to be stopping them. Cmon didy! I love your posts, but really? 

[nobody3089 250]

4 minutes ago, Didymus said:

Two idiots lol.

The dude definitely deserved to be arrested, but didn't deserve to be tasered and dropped like that, and obviously didn't deserve to be brain damaged.

The cop deserved what he got for giving a false account.

U should study the constitution of the United States before u make ur stupid comment. The cop is supposed to let him know why he's been arrested. He also had the right to roll his window only half way. The officer was just making excuses cause he definitely heard him. I heard him clearly and I'm sure the officer did too. And before u say something like I don't know what I'm talking about, I do. My cousin is a police officer and he told everything a cop is allow and not allow to do.

[nobody3089 250]

4 minutes ago, AlexanderLevi2 said:

As in the prison sentence or what actually happened?

Cause I have two totally different reactions depending on what you meant.

Prison sentence.  

[AlexanderLevi2 5,849]

1 minute ago, Didymus said:

He disobeyed very simple commands like 20x and didn't co-operate whatsoever. He only got arrested after refusing about 10x to step out of the vehicle.

This all could've been prevented if he just ****ing rolled the window down like the cop told him to

So it's the kid's fault he got put into an induced coma  because he could have prevented it  

Not in the mood to argue but our police need to learn how to deal with teenagers besides trying to kill them.

[Kulture Kiari 3,433]

3 minutes ago, Didymus said:

Eek. Glad I don't live there then

Here's a real scene using some of the tasers that police use starring Latoya Jackson, Erik Estrada, Jack Osbourne, Wee Man, and my queen: Trish Stratus!