According to the Mercury News, a 17-year-old boy claims Redwood City police fired a Taser at him and then joked about it, says a personal injury complaint. The boy is represented by a personal injury attorney and Oakland-based civil rights activist, who filed the suit after the Redwood City Council rejected the boy’s injury claim at its April 25 meeting.
Interim police Chief Ed Hernandez declined to comment on the case but said in an email that the officers conducted themselves professionally and appropriately, as well as within department policy in responding to a strong-armed robbery. According to the boy’s personal injury attorney, the incident took place when the teen went into a Safeway store with a friend around 8:30PM. The boy’s friend stole a bottle of liquor and the two then left the store. The plaintiff went in a different direction to meet his mother at a restaurant, but was intercepted by local police. The police tasered the boy even though he raised his arms up in the air, says the complaint. Both officers placed weight on the boy as he lay on the ground, pushing him, pulling his hair and both of the officers again tasered the boy.
The teen’s mother arrived and demanded the officers provide their names and badge numbers, but they refused. The teen was later taken to a hospital and was charged with theft, as well as criminal conspiracy and obstruction. The case alleges the officers made a false arrest, acted negligently, assaulted and battered the teen and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.