Taser death in troubled town (tasered 9 times while handcuffed)

Chicago Tribune ^ | July 20 2008 | Howard Witt

[Charlespg]

WINNFIELD, LA. -- At 1:28 p.m. on Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.

What happened in the 39 minutes in between -- during which Pikes was handcuffed by police and shocked nine times with a Taser while reportedly pleading for mercy -- is spawning suspicions of a political cover-up in this lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.

[Charlespg]

What is with the cops and these things?

Mabey its time for congress to ban tasers in police use

[rabscuttle385]

...while handcuffed??? Wtf.

[Charlespg]

while handcuffed??? Wtf.

Thats what the witness said.

also on yahoo http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8934771&ch=4226713&src=news

[6SJ7]

The police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying. Just four months later, the district attorney killed himself after allegedly skimming $200,000 from his office budget and extorting payments from criminal defendants to make their cases go away.

The current police chief is a convicted drug offender pardoned by then-Gov. Edwin Edwards, who is in federal prison for corruption convictions.

Nice town.

[bubbacluck]

It happened outside, at a grocery store, with witnesses. He was tased twice while unconscious. I’m pro-cop but this is abhorrent and, based on what I’ve read, plain murder.

[Neidermeyer]

Williams said police records showed Nugent administered nine Taser shocks to Pikes over a 14-minute period. The last two jolts, delivered as police pulled Pikes from a patrol car at the police station, occurred while the suspect was unconscious, Williams said.

Police called for an ambulance after Pikes was carried into the station and slumped into a chair.

He was pronounced dead soon afterward.

[AmusedBystander]

is spawning suspicions of a political cover-up

Not likely to be a cover-up when the coroner has ruled it a homicide.

[lesser_satan]

Sounds like they should drag all their public employees out and lynch them and start over.

[Neidermeyer]

In less than two years on Winnfield’s 20-officer force, records show, Nugent has been the department’s most aggressive Taser user.

[stylin19a]

It was after Pikes refused Nugent's command to stand up that the officer applied the first Taser shock in the middle of his back, Nugent wrote.

seems like being tased would make me fall down, not help me get up.

[Charlespg]

I've been accused on a another thread of being anti cop

But They need to ban these tasers and have federal standards for hiring police

[DemonDeac]

“. The last two jolts..... occurred while the suspect was unconscious”

Somebody needs to go to prison. Thats sounds like murder.

[satan]

Federal standards for hiring police?

and you’ve been accused of being anti-cop?

[Charlespg]

“. The last two jolts..... occurred while the suspect was unconscious” Somebody needs to go to prison.

Like the whole dammed force

[packrat35]

Cops love to make us dance. Tasers are an effective tool when used properly but it is painfully clear to all but the cops-are-always-right crowd, that they are being misused on a massive scale.

[kittymyrib]

This is the cesspool that Gov. Jindal has promised to clean out. Good luck, Bobby.

[Charlespg]

Federal standards for hiring police? and you’ve been accused of being anti-cop?

Yes I am in favor of federal standards for hiring police I place the majority of the blame on the war on drugs .But I know of cases of police being fired for misconduct in one state and getting hired in another state

I'm a Conservative but cops like this Nugent guy are a public menace and a danger to law abiding Americans

[pipecorp]

French law.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

They need to ban these tasers and have federal standards for hiring police

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

[VOA]

No novelist could have invented Winnfield, the birthplace
of two of Louisiana's most colorful and notorious governors --
Huey and Earl Long.

Hmmm...no mention of the political affiliation of these two historical
figures.
I wonder about the political affiliations of the other officials
mentioned in this article.
(OK, the current scoundrels could be Republicans...)

The police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing
a close election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying.
Just four months later, the district attorney killed himself after
allegedly skimming $200,000 from his office budget and extorting
payments from criminal defendants to make their cases go away.

Sounds like some of the suburbs/exburbs of Los Angeles like Hawaiian
Gardens and Compton.

But, for the sophisticates of Los Angeles, it's more fun to find
some disaster-of-a-town in flyover country (preferably below
The Mason-Dixon Line) in order to feel very smug about the advanced
and crime-free society of Southern California.
(/SARC).
This is just a replay of how The LA Times ran a series of reports
of how G-wd-Awful the quality of life in Texas was...as part of
their DNC work for the Kerry Campaign in 2004.

The current police chief is a convicted drug offender pardoned by
then-Gov. Edwin Edwards, who is in federal prison for corruption convictions.

Honestly, this town really does give The Harper Valley PTA a run
for ugly scandals!

Pikes fell ill and told the officers he suffered from asthma
and was high on crack cocaine and PCP. The officers called for
an ambulance. Pikes died at the hospital.

An autopsy determined there were no drugs in Pikes' system and
that he did not have asthma, according to Dr. Randolph Williams,
the Winn Parish coroner.

Having worked for six years in toxicology (therapeutic and
drugs-of-abuse screening)...I'd hold my breath and ask for a second
opinion.

The good coroner could be absolutely correct in his findings.
But every once and awhile, you get a forensic scandal like the
one in Oklahoma City (Gilchrist?).

But, taken as a whole, and even if the source is The Los Angeles
Times, it does sound like the cops in this town need to stand
in the dock to answer for what happened to the deceased.