"Taking lip" CAN be assaulting someone...depends on what was said and how it was said. "Lip" can not only be abusive but it CAN be threatening. If it was threatening, then the cop may have felt threatened and ZAPPED the old buzzard.
The old buzzard knew exactly what he was doing.
Just sayin'.
Maybe, but as a prior LEO I never felt threatened by a 70+ year old person unless they had a weapon in hand. I would find it very embarrassing and emasculating that I could not handle that type of subject as a viral young man.
"Lip" can not only be abusive but it CAN be threatening.Perhaps in some assault situations, mouthing off threats accompanied by a reasonable belief the person can follow through could certainly be considered a threat. But in this case, I think you would have a *VERY* difficult time convincing a reasonable and prudent person that this 76 yr old geezer could do much more than "talk" a good fight.
Regardless, the bottom line is that this young, seemingly healthy cop lacked the skills, discretion and/or physical capability of controlling the *FAR* less strong/capable 76 yr old geezer without resorting to a significant escalation of force without any apparent justification.
I don't believe he has any business being on patrol if his judgement, skills and physical capabilities are that deficient. AT THE VERY LEAST, I'd have him riding a desk until he proved otherwise. I'd also like to know if his patrol SGT, LT and CPT were unaware of his problems and if so, why they were unaware.
We need fewer Barney Fifes and more Andy Griffiths.