Document: Officer used Taser on 75-year-old without warning

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

COLLEEN SLEVIN,
Associated Press
July 13, 2021
Updated: July 14, 2021 4:03 a.m.



This undated photo provided by the 5th Judicial District Attorney's Office shows Nicholas Hanning. Hanning, a police officer in Colorado, used a Taser on a 75-year-old man less than a minute after he answered his door with a "Hawaiian sword" but after he put down the weapon and without issuing any warning, according to a court document released Tuesday, July 13, 2021. (The 5th Judicial District Attorney's Office via AP)




DENVER (AP) — A police officer in Colorado used a Taser on a 75-year-old man without warning less than a minute after he answered the door holding what authorities described as a sword-like weapon, which he had put down before being shocked, according to a court document released Tuesday.

A neighbor in Michael Clark’s apartment building called police on May 30 to report that Clark had punched his female roommate in the face, according to an arrest affidavit outlining the evidence against Idaho Springs Officer Nicholas Hanning. He has been charged with third-degree assault.

Hanning, who was with another officer, knocked loudly on Clark’s door twice just before 11 p.m. without announcing he was a police officer, the document said. Clark later said he did not want to answer the door because he thought it would be neighbors who had been making noise while he was trying to sleep.

Clark opened the door — yelling, “What do you want?” — and Hanning forced him into a wall, according to the affidavit. Body camera footage showed Clark had what police described as a “Hawaiian sword” with shark's teeth.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Body-cam-of-police-using-Taser-on-man-75-to-be-16311695.php

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Sawfish, swimming with its Hawaiian sword

[marble falls]

1. He thought he could sneak in a little 'get even'. Makes me wonder if the noisemaker "swatted" ...

... the old man. And the cops were ready for a serious confrontation.

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. Yet again we see

That this is not 'fearing for my life'. It is 'I AM THE LAW PEON!'. Law enforcement demands that you obey. It has little to do with actual law enforcement and plenty to do with authoritarian control.

[twodogsbarking]

3. There's just too much crazy here to judge.

Hide your crazy.

[exboyfil]

4. 3rd degree assault

For using a taser?

[twodogsbarking]

5. I think the 75 yo guy is charged.

He allegedly smacked his gf in the face.

[exboyfil]

6. It was the cop

It appears the old man hasn't been charged with anything yet.

[twodogsbarking]

7. Hi class folks either way.

Upon further reading I agree with you.

[colorado_ufo]

8. And when the paramedics came -

the cop mentioned that he also kicked the old guy in the knee and punched him in the back of the head. The punch alone could have caused the stroke or even killed him (he may yet die). Can you imagine what a kick to an arthritic old knee would feel like, and the consequences? There is so much to unpack here, and it seems like "old guy" really didn't do anything.

Throw the book at that useless cop.

[Warpy]

9. Tasers need to be taken away from them until proper training is done

These cops are using them like instant tranquilizers on everybody from kids to old people. The taser could have been fatal to a lot of 75 year olds, that's about my age range and a lot of my peers have heart conditions.

Cops obviously need longer training to be allowed on the street, training that tells them to stop, look and listen from a safe vantage point, to note what's really going down and who the actors are. They just wade in now and act like an occupying army and that's wrong. It gets lethal too much of the time.

This will qualify as assault since the guy complied and put his weapon down.
'
The courts will determine whether he's guilty of domestic assault. There should also be an investigation into whether or not his neighbor SWATted him. And obviously that cop needs a long training session into how to tell old people from young ones and determine who is a threat and who isn't.

That cop is lucky the old guy he assaulted didn't die at the scene. If he does survive, the lawsuit is going to be a beaut.

[Stuart G]

10. This officer was absolutely sure, "He was going to get away with this action with no consequences."

..."No Consequences of Any Kind", that is why he did it. Yes, the show is not the same anymore. Every officer
in the U.S.A. had better realize the show has changed radically. It ain't the same anymore. What changed the show?

"Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years for murder of George Floyd ."

Derek Chauvin was a Minneapolis police officer...

No, It ain't the same anymore...Times have indeed changed.