Taser Used on 10-Year-Old; Policemen Suspended
(April 1) -- Two police officers have been suspended for reportedly using a stun gun on a 10-year-old boy who had gotten out of control at a day care facility.
The incident occurred Tuesday, when a worker at Tender Teddies Day Care in Martinsville, Ind., called police to report that one of the children there was acting up and posed a potential threat to the kids, local news affiliate
WRTV reported.
A spokesperson for the Martinsville Police Department told AOL News that Capt. William Jennings and Officer Darren Johnson arrived at the scene and found the boy to be "combative." Jennings then slapped the boy, and Johnson used his Taser to further subdue him, police said.
The boy, who weighs 94 pounds, received two marks on his arm where Jennings used the gun, WTHR news reported, but is believed to have suffered no lasting injuries.
While the day care center's owner, Heath Lancaster, did not comment on the case, police released a statement announcing that the officers had been placed on paid administrative leave pending further investigation.
"While the department will not condone the unnecessary treatment of any subject, regardless of age, in any apprehension situation, additional comments will not be made pending results of the final investigation," the statement read.
Separate investigations have now been launched by the Morgan County Sheriff's Department, the Martinsville Police Department and the Martinsville Department of Child Services.
"We need to look at it a lot closer because [the Taser gun is] not really made for 10-year-olds," Martinsville Police Chief Jon Davis said at a news conference.
While the police had been called to Tender Teddies Day Care on another occasion about the behavior of the same child, local resident Kenneth Frazier told WRTV that he thinks police went too far.
"I don't think that should have happened. I'm sure they could have detained him some other way," Frazier said. "They take big grown-ups down without tasing them ... why a 10-year-old?"
