Posted on 03/01/2005 11:04:12 AM PST by socal_parrot
AURORA, Colo. -- Aurora police are reviewing a weekend incident in which a man accused of stealing salad from a Chuck E. Cheese salad bar was hit with a stun gun twice by officers.
The incident began at 4:05 p.m. Sunday when officers were called to the restaurant at 145005 East Exposition on a report of a larceny in progress.
Police talked to the Chuck E. Cheese manager who told them that a customer had refused to show proof that he had paid for food. The manager said the man was seen "loading" his plate at the salad bar.
The officers confronted Danon Gale, 29, who was at the restaurant with his children, aged 3 and 7. Patrons said the popular kids pizza parlor was packed with children and families at the time.
According to police, Gale was asked to step outside to discuss the incident.
"According to witnesses (Gale) refused to cooperate with police and a struggle ensued," said Larry Martinez, a police spokesman. He said that Gale became argumentative and shoved one of the officers, a fact disputed by another patron.
"One of the officers kept poking the gentleman in the chest," Felicia Mayo told the Rocky Mountain News.
She was there with her 7-year-old son. She told the newspaper that Gale told the officer "You don't have to do that." She said Gale never put his hands on the officer who was confronting him
The argument escalated until Gale was shoved into the lap of Mayor's sister, who was sitting two booths away, holding a 10-month-old baby. That's when police pulled out a Taser stun gun to subdue him.
"They beat this man in front of all these kids then Tased him in my sister's lap," Mayo told the newspaper. "They had no regard for the effect this would have on the kids. This is Chuck E. Cheese, you know."
Gale's two children were "screaming and hollering and crying" as Gale was tasered with two times with the stun gun.
Police arrested Gale as his children and other customers watched. They took him outside, leaving his children inside the restaurant.
Gale was arrested for investigation of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing.
His two children were picked up by a relative.
The manager of the restaurant declined comment and Gale said he couldn't talk about it, after hiring an attorney.
My man gets profiled all the time in Santa Monica. Luckily, his brother is a cop in Northern Ca & he knows how to act. He has a shaved head & tattoos which must really piss off many in our police dept. He was recently handcuffed for 20 minutes over a "bicycle violation".....he made the horrible mistake of riding on the sidewalk for 50 feet to avoid getting hit by traffic. Some cops are just reactionary & incompetant. This comes from the lowering of the bar on admissions & ultra PC BS.
I understand your attitude from a business perspective, but letting people get away with it only emboldens them. Soon they will expect more freebies beyond the salad bar.
It's the current (Amps) that can kill a person. At really low currents, 50KV just makes the nervous system seize up. :-)
I'm just joshin'.
that probably is what is going to happen if there continue to be incidents of misuse like this one. who saves their receipt at Burger King? when I take my food to my table, if the manager comes up to me as I was eating and asked me if I could produce the receipt for my food, what am I supposed to do if I tossed it out? so then he calls the police and tells them I stole food, I cannot produce a receipt, and then they taser me?
big lawsuit coming in this one.
LOL! I'm not touching this one with an insulated 10-foot pole!
Course, I think everyone should be allowed to carry stun-guns around, for the sole purpose of prodding along those who hold up salad bar lines trying to decide between bean sprouts or sunflower seeds.
Your parrot is dead, CJ.
Stop defending the indefensible - and right in the full sight of God, too!
/mock scolding tone*
* for the sarcasm impaired
Ya think? Something is obviously missing in the story. One clue is that the CEC manager called the cops. He's either unrealistically afraid of confrontation or the customer was rude and unruly to begin with.
"That could very well be the result of allowing moral-liberalism to continue to rule our culture."
Actually, to the disdain of the so called morally self righteous folk, I indeed prefer a little taste of moral liberalism. Especially when it comes to those religious zealouts in our midst who would behead all those they consider infidels. And make no mistake about it, these zealouts would use cops like these buffet palace guards to execute their will.
So? She knew who he was. If your story is true.
Well, if you choose to dress up like a duck, people will expect you to quack. If you make the effort to look like a badass, people will treat you accordingly if they don't know you.
he made the horrible mistake of riding on the sidewalk for 50 feet to avoid getting hit by traffic
That's illegal most places, as any old lady who walks on the sidewalk will tell you. Probably shouldn't have been handcuffed but he should feel lucky not to have to pay a fine.
He should have gotten off the bike and walked it 50 feet.
Someday you'll be harassing someone and step backward into traffic.
And I'll be there to piss on your grave.
You suffered from traumatic toilet-training episodes, eh?
No, I just find the graves of cop thugs to be convenient for relieving myself. Most of them die in the heroic act of revenue enhancement. Their families are no doubt proud of that.
Ahhhhhh. That feels better.
But if you're in Santa Monica, just say you're homeless. They're allowed to do anything.
I agree that the infraction was legit...petty but legit.
Sometimes breaking the law is the safer option.
If the female cop was scared of a guy on a bike being polite to her & complying...she should find other work. She was overly aggressive, rude & incompetant. Two other police cars stopped for this "crime" and those officers told them to uncuff him & let him go. They finally uncuffed hima fter 20 minutes, but kept him there for another 15 while they examined him. The female cop went so far as to try to remove his shirt to look at his back tattoos. Is that regualr procedure? I doubt it.
It is funny to watch the officers demeanors change when they find out you know their boss & they are the ones now in trouble. I watched one officer in a cruiser try to run over my man in a crosswalk....he actually accelerated & steered the car towards him. My man was walking home from the grocery store carrying bags...so he must have deserved that, huh?
In my opinion, a big problem with some cops is that they have an inferiority complex when they see a man who looks bigger & more muscular than they are....it happens to female cops too...I have just seen too much of this around here. I think a big reason is the way they recruit. If you test too high, you don't get in. They even went so far as to recruit among gang members a few years back....real smart.
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