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Posted: 9/14/2009 6:34:29 PM EDT
Jared Reston Says Taser Malfunction Preceded ShootingPOSTED: Monday, September 14, 2009 UPDATED: 6:37 pm EDT September 14, 2009
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –– A police officer shot six times during a gun battle with a shoplifting suspect in January 2008 is suing Taser International Corp. and its distributor, claiming the city-issued Taser gun failed to fire.Jared Reston, now back on the job as a detective with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, has received many honors over the past 18 months for his attitude and his will to live.Reston was working off duty at the Regency Mall when he pursued 18-year-old Joel Abner and another shoplifting suspect down Atlantic Boulevard. At a police review board hearing on the incident, Reston said his Taser gun didn't work.
"When device malfunctioned, (I) got close enough to physically subdue him," Reston told the panel.That's when police said Abner pulled a gun and shot Reston six times at close range –– including one bullet to his jaw. "I looked up and I can see the suspect continuing to shoot at me," Reston said. In spite of his injuries, Reston managed to shoot back, killing Abner. After months of recovery and reconstructive surgery, Reston and his wife filed the lawsuit asking for damages in excess of $15,000. The lawsuit claims that the Taser gun "was negligently designed... and failed to fire, sound spark or deploy the probes."Reston claims his serious injures might have been avoided if the Taser gun had worked.The distributor, DGG Taser, declined comment on a pending lawsuit. By Monday afternoon, Taser International had not returned Channel 4's telephone calls. Previous Stories:
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Posted: 9/14/2009 8:13:34 PM EDT
[#1]
Really?
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Posted: 9/14/2009 8:16:25 PM EDT
[#2]
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Posted: 9/14/2009 8:42:39 PM EDT
[#3]
huh...
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Posted: 9/14/2009 10:10:56 PM EDT
[#4]
Hmm...
Not sure how I feel about this one. Tag for later review. |
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Posted: 9/14/2009 10:12:36 PM EDT
[#5]
Tag to see where this one goes....
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Posted: 9/15/2009 12:32:47 AM EDT
[#6]
My Taser works fine, everytime
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Posted: 9/15/2009 2:54:58 AM EDT
[#7]
I deleted most of what I originally wrote because I am not going to monday morning quarterback this officer in this situation. I hate monday morning quarterbacking. I left out a lot of what I would say so it hopefully doesn't appear I'm judging this officer.
I will say this as a reminder to everyone. People, have a backup plan and mentally rehearse the backup plans for all your "bat belt" and emergency gear. Pepper spray doesn't spray, use your taser or baton instead. Baton falls out during a foot chase, use your spray or taser instead. Taser doesn't shoot, use pepper spray or baton. Gun don't go bang despite "tap and rack", have a backup gun or at least a knife on you and a long gun in the car (and be ready to use anything to stay alive). Also remember the rule for equipment, "Two is one and one is none." If you can justify using a taser before you go hands on, you can justify the spray and/or baton (depending on policy) if the taser fails. |
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Posted: 9/15/2009 3:03:24 AM EDT
[#8]
I commend the officer for fighting back and killing the POS. The lawsuit however, makes him look like an idiot.
Gun V Taser means you dump the taser, draw your firearm and shoot the sucker with BULLETS. Was the taser tested after the incident and did it work or was it still actually broken? |
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Posted: 9/15/2009 3:18:18 AM EDT
[#9]
Seems to me their training is all messed up. Shoot the bastard first then tase him to see if he's still alive.
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Posted: 9/15/2009 3:40:50 AM EDT
[#10]
I'm not understanding where he stands on how the Taser caused him to be shot. Don't get me wrong, I feel for him. However if he is saying he HAD to go hands on with the guy because the Taser failed or that since the Taser failed he was shot I disagree. If he is saying he was too close to this guy because he had to taser him then I also feel his logic and tactics need to be improved.
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Posted: 9/15/2009 4:23:50 AM EDT
[#11]
I'm glad the officer is ok, but things break......its a fact of life. It will be interesting to see when the last time the Taser was tested/serviced and what condition the battery was in....etc.
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Posted: 9/15/2009 4:29:52 AM EDT
[#12]
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Posted: 9/15/2009 8:43:02 AM EDT
[#13]
I think the premise to the officer's argument is that they suspect did not have a handgun and the time of taser deployment. When the taser failed to function the suspect drew his handgun and fired on him.
However, this is rediculous. This is definitely a training issue. At the moment a firearm was revealed you drop what you have in your hands, draw your handgun, and fire while moving out of the suspects line of fire (at least to the best of your ability). The people responsible for the officer being shot are the suspect and the officer himself. That being said, my taser has failed to function on numerous occassions. I believe I'm on my 4th taser right now. I wouldn't deploy my taser though when deadly force is justified. |
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Posted: 9/15/2009 10:51:35 AM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
My Taser works fine, everytime You must not use it much then!!!!! Stupid lawsuit. Never blame the culprit, just the one with deep pockets. |
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Posted: 9/15/2009 2:54:01 PM EDT
[#15]
Im surprised he is only sueing for $15,000 that actually sounds like a reasonable amount to cover med bills....in this sue happy day and age I'm surprised there arent more zeros attached to that number.....as for the taser failing, I'm wondering if he spark tested it prior to working that day? It's unfortunate but in our line of work, theres this guy named Murphy and alot of times shit doesnt go as planned....that is why u have a backup plan......gear fails in our line of work companies make shit durable, but nothings un-breakable....does this mean if I'm in a fight for my life and the suspect busts my radio and I can't call for help I get to sue the radio company?
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Posted: 9/15/2009 4:42:31 PM EDT
[#16]
Quoted:
I think the premise to the officer's argument is that they suspect did not have a handgun and the time of taser deployment. When the taser failed to function the suspect drew his handgun and fired on him. However, this is rediculous. This is definitely a training issue. At the moment a firearm was revealed you drop what you have in your hands, draw your handgun, and fire while moving out of the suspects line of fire (at least to the best of your ability). The people responsible for the officer being shot are the suspect and the officer himself. That being said, my taser has failed to function on numerous occassions. I believe I'm on my 4th taser right now. I wouldn't deploy my taser though when deadly force is justified. i agree with your assumption. I think the basis of his suit is that if the tazer had worked as intended, then the perp would have been disabled and never would have been able to draw a weapon... |
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Posted: 9/15/2009 4:48:54 PM EDT
[#17]
You have to give it to him, he's only asking for $15,000. This day and age, you'd usually see like 5 million.
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Posted: 9/15/2009 8:58:44 PM EDT
[#18]
I think it is a shame this officer got hurt. A Taser is a tool, an electronic one at that. It is not a matter of if it will fail, but when, just as a mechanical device will.
On a side note. I do think the addition of the extended battery/extra cartridge holder is not a good design. It puts extra pressure on the battery causing a bad connection. I cant tell you how many times I have spark tested a Taser at the start of the shift to see it not count down, long pause, or count down with no spark. You wiggle the bottom and it starts flashing numbers. |
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Posted: 9/16/2009 3:12:09 AM EDT
[#19]
I never like to second guess stuff that I was not involved so I write this with some reservations.
The article said that the "taser didnt work" but doesnt say how it "malfunctioned." did it truely not work (as in catostrophic failure) or did the cartridge not go off or did it fire and he missed a probe hit, etc. If it just did not work, I'm guessing that he was not doing a spark check at the begining of his shift? Its taught by Taser Int to be done at the begining of EVERY shift and is actually addressed in our policy (and about 80% of the other dept's policies that I have read). Was the Taser still with in the warrant period? ( I know seems petty but may be an issue too, if your car quites at 4 years and you have a 3 year warranty you are SOL, why would this be different?) Lastly we had a sit at work where an officer said her taser cartridge failed to fire during a fight with a suspect. After reviewing the incident we determined that she was so ingrained with doing a spark check at the begining of shift and having to take the cartridge off to do that, that when the SHTF she pulled her taser, removed the cartridge and pulled the trigger, just like a spark check. This was by the way her first deployment, so could somthing like this have happened there? J- |
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Posted: 9/16/2009 5:29:30 AM EDT
[#20]
Taser isn't a cure all. Have a plan B.. Always..................
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Posted: 9/16/2009 5:36:01 AM EDT
[#21]
Seems like he needs to sue Murphy instead of Taser.
I feel for the officer and would commend him for winning the fight. However, I am increasingly tired of the BS lawsuits that are drowning this country. This is just another example of the mindset of "lets find the person with the deepest pockets and somehow make them responsible." The person responsible for the officer's injuries is the suspect, not Taser.
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Posted: 9/16/2009 6:47:52 AM EDT
[#22]
Seriously?
I am glad the Officer survived and the mope got his. I have nothing else nice to say. |
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Posted: 9/16/2009 1:52:30 PM EDT
[#23]
I've seen many many tasers fail to function while being tested prior to duty. I've also seen them fail in the field. I've also dropped a couple guys like bad habits, but I wouldn't depend on them. I wouldn't sue over this though.
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Posted: 9/16/2009 4:32:09 PM EDT
[#24]
I'm not and never was a fan of Taser's.
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Posted: 9/16/2009 4:39:29 PM EDT
[#25]
I've seen many many tasers fail to function while being tested prior to duty. I've also seen them fail in the field. I've also dropped a couple guys like bad habits, but I wouldn't depend on them. I wouldn't sue over this though.
You may feel different if you had been shot six times because your equipment didn't work...while I do not agree with the suit in my present state, after being shot six times because my taser didn't deploy as it should have I may have different thoughts. Seems the suit is more of a wake up call for Taser than an actual hit for their funds, $15,000 is pennies for Taser One reason I no longer carry a Taser, too hit or miss. |
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Posted: 9/17/2009 2:04:55 AM EDT
[#26]
ive met this guy before, he sat in on some of my academy classes about 5 years ago, dated a officer i knew, was SWAT, and all around a pretty good guy...
i dont know all the details about the tazer, but i know the details about the shooting...to take a slug through the mouth, and in 5 other places and still kill the chump, he's a fighter I only had to use my tazer once while i worked, (using a tazer in my old BFE county made you seem like less of a man if you couldnt handle the situation with your hands) i had the M26 model, and it acted wierd when it was deployed...delayed for a second or two, i know when i took the ride there was no delay... A close family member was in charge of a state patrol here in the south, he also made the choice not to use tazers, he felt that there were to many different issue's that could arise with them he explained details to me when we had that discussions unfortunately i cant recall all of them, but he had several solid points. |
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Posted: 9/17/2009 8:21:06 AM EDT
[#27]
Unless Taser is saying their products are sprinkled with magical fairy dust that makes them not only function perfectly or work on the intended recipient every time, ossifer is a douche.
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Posted: 9/17/2009 9:30:54 PM EDT
[#28]
I'm glad this officer survived and I will not question any of the choices he made.
I will give some advice for all the officers reading this. Expect EVERY electronic device to fail, especially if you live and work in a very humid climate. NEVER draw a Taser without knowing you have time to access another force option when the Taser fails! NEVER, run electronic optics on a firearm without back-up iron sights! ALWAYS carry multiple flashlights! ALWAYS have a plan for what to do when your hand held radio fails! Every piece of electronic equipment I carry has failed on me a some point. |
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Posted: 9/18/2009 7:08:53 AM EDT
[#29]
I had a bad experience with a Taser myself. We breached a door on a drunk EDP who had been throwing his ol lady around. Pretty big dude, so he squares off on me in a real narrow doorway bout 10' away so after he refuses to go to the ground I squeeze off the Taser. It didn't go off for a second or two. I must have canted it upward and looked at it, cuz when it went off one of the darts hit him in the Adam's Apple. A later inspection revealed that the lil metal contacts were not in alignment and when you spark tested it the spark was not always going across. Now I had several guys behind me with long guns etc... but I learned my lesson.
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