Aurora Father To File Suit Over Police Taser Incident At Salad Bar

[struggle4progress]

Gale Wants $500,000 After Incident At Chuck E. Cheese
POSTED: 11:16 am MDT May 24, 2005

AURORA, Colo. -- <snip: 27 Feb incident>

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 Gale, 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. <snip>

The argument escalated until Gale was shoved into the lap of a woman, 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, the witness said

Gale's two children were "screaming and hollering and crying" as Gale was shocked two times with the stun gun, according to Felicia Mayo who was sitting nearby. <snip>

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4525430/detail.html

[ret5hd]

1. Next up...man imprisoned for stealing bread.

[Maat]

2. I hope they are forced to pay plenty.

And I say having been a social worker responding to crime scenes with law enforcement many a time.

There was absolutely no need for this (I'm pretty darn sure).

[Ms. Clio]

3. Good for him--I hope he wins big

This incident was discussed extensively here and since it happened, dozens of people have died from these "non-lethal" weapons.

[BiggJawn]

4. "Larceny"???

Stealing a fucking SALAD is LARCENY???

so, is Chukeecheez pursuing charges, or was it determined that Gale had indeed paid?

Every time the Taser Stings, Bernie Kerick's cash register Rings...

[AirAmFan]

6. "Larceny" didn't stick. They got him for "trespassing, disorderly conduct,

and resisting arrest". Did you notice the last couple of sentences in the article?

Too bad Johnny Cochran no longer is with us. He's have turned this man into another Jean Valjean.... persecuted by the law for feeding his kids, apparently having PAID for the food.

[BiggJawn]

14. Yeah, I saw those charges.

"Trespassing" is bullshit if he had paid for his meal. From what I understand reading the article, once the cops got there, he wasn't free to do shit, even if the pimple-face with the greasy tie had asked him to leave..
Hope this hurts both Aurora AND up-chukee-Cheez....

[thecai]

9. That's His Name!

Kerick, not Chertoff. I confused the two, (who is Chertoff?)

[BiggJawn]

16. Chertoff is the Jackoff who replaced Tommy Timbertoes.

Over at the the Ministry of the Homeguard.

[Vektor]

11. Larceny, huh?

That must have been a HUGE fucking salad.

[AirAmFan]

23. It's not really 'all you can eat'-it's 'all you dare take lest ye be TASERED!'

[Miss Chybil]

5. The taser has come to represent a "magic bullet." It replaces common

sense. Double-entendre intended.

[AnneD]

17. Amen...

I hope the police department and the city get popped hard for this. It showed a total lack of common sense-a total power trip on the part of some overzelous types. And I hope that Chuckie Cheese gets all the bad publicity they deserve. I'd be doing a street protest in front of their store if it were me. The only way to inject common sense in this taser silver bullet is by some lawsuits directed at the law enforcement and the manufacture.

[Miss Chybil]

22. I worked in a maximum security detention facility back in the 80s and

there were no tasers. If somebody got out of hand, people had to get down and dirty with them. We used the law of numbers and many times that went to far with a bunch of over-zealous detention officers, but people weren't dying on a daily basis. Once a year, maybe, and even that's too much.

I know how some cops' minds work and I'm sure some of them just jump at any opportunity to use their little taser toys - especially, if they don't want to get their uniforms dirty. It's amazing how well diplomacy works when you know you're not guaranteed the upper-hand in a situation. It's called "using your head." And for three, or four, cops to be tasering at the same time is absolutely ridiculous.

You're right, people need to start suing the shit out of these departments and the manufacturer. Money is the only motivator in this country.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Another one where we don't know...

what really happened, although it's a good guess that the taser was uncalled for. It seems to be to easy to use when subduing someone. On the other hand, cops do have problems handling some people, and it can be dangerous. We don't really know if this guy was going batshit in the middle of a crowd.

The only witness quoted was the sister of the woman Gale fell on, although there was some mention of another witness who said Gale was apparently an asshole. With all those people there, someone must have noticed what was going on.

So, does anyone know if he actually paid for the stuff, and why he couldn't or wouldn't prove it if he did?

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

13. Was it Al Bundy's...

...clone?

[LostinVA]

21. He had paid for his food n/t

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. He is lucky the thing didn't kill him

They use those fucking things because they leave no bloody mess. I would like to see how they would like it if somebody used the god damn thing on them.

[BiggJawn]

15. Should be somebody along soon....

Telling you how they have been tased MANY times as part of their job, they're perfectly harmless, and why do you HATE cops?

[Ms. Clio]

20. Or maybe to tell us that "It's a fabulous weapon, I love it!" n/t

[shanti]

10. this story sounds familiar

wasn't there another incident at chuck e. cheese like this, minus the taser? i could SWEAR this has happened before....

[sendero]

18. Same incident..

... guy has decided to file a suit.

I think he should file suit against Chuck E Cheese as well. They are just as responsible as the police.

[shanti]

19. ah, ok

thanks for the clarification!

[ngGale]

12. I'm really hating Tasers...

just practice for when we are all starving to death under Bush's policies. All they have say is excessive force, and buzzz - woe be unto all of us.