From The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette in Lancaster, Ohio
A 31 year-old man who was reportedly resisting police arrest, found himself engulfed in flames after officers shot him with a Taser stun gun. Police were notified of the incident, receiving reports from eye-witnesses who saw the suspect running erratically through parking lots adjacent to a busy shopping center, dodging traffic, and spraying aerosol into his mouth.
When police arrived at the scene, one officer was able to catch the suspect and force him down to the ground. Police reports state that the suspect, high from huffing aerosol, struggled with an officer who was trying to handcuff him; allegedly kicking, biting, and “making gestures with his hand as if he were reaching for a firearm in his waistband” requiring a second officer to activate his Taser stun gun to demobilize the suspect.
“One of the officers then spotted a flame on his chest, and both officers quickly patted out the flame.” No one was seriously injured in the incident, but the suspect was taken to a nearby hospital “for treatment of burns to his chest.”
The Lancaster Police Department does have safety policies in place, warning against the use of Tasers when flammable substances may be present. However, Lancaster’s Chief of Police released a statement yesterday announcing the officers acted “appropriately.”
The suspect is being charged with abusing harmful intoxicants, assaulting an officer, and resisting arrest.
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