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Victim stunned by use of Taser Cheryl Wierda A Kelowna couple says they are appalled by what they call the careless use of a Taser by RCMP, after a 68-year-old stroke survivor, with a neurological disorder that affects his ability to comprehend language, was tasered after a dispute over double-parking on a downtown street. “Somebody with this condition was tasered twice,” said Anne Peters, who’s husband John was hit with the electric voltage shocks. “This is what frustrates me.” “There was absolutely no reason for the officer to use the Taser.” She said the incident is especially concerning after the fatal tasering of a Polish man at Vancouver International Airport last month. The incident here started when John Peters stopped along Leon Avenue around 9 a.m. on Monday to pick her up after delivering newspapers for the Capital News.
As Anne approached the vehicle, a police vehicle with two officers pulled up beside her husband and an officer got out of his vehicle. “He said very clearly, ‘I’m going to give you a ticket,’” Anne recalled. She interjected that people drop off and pick up people all the time along that stretch of road, located near a medical lab, but the officer told her he was going to arrest her for obstruction if she protested the ticket. After Anne got into the vehicle, John drove off, leaving the police officers in his wake. “In John’s mind, he couldn’t believe they could give him a ticket,” said Anne. She admited it wasn’t the best way for her husband to handle the situation, but she said it doesn’t warrant what happened next. John eventually pulled over in a nearby parking lot and he said the pursuing officers then “charged” at him. “They didn’t want to talk,” said John. “They just wanted to arrest me.” “They came aggressively at me,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.” “Instinctively,” the 68-year-old, who suffers blindness in his left eye, put up his left arm to resist after officers reached for him. “I tried to protect myself,” he said. John, who weighs approximately 145 pounds, said an officer grabbed him by the shirt, ripping off some of the buttons. Meanwhile, Anne tried to tell the other officer that her husband had previously had a stroke and tried to explain his neurological disorder—aphasia. That condition affects a person’s ability to comprehend language. “He gets very agitated,” said Anne. “It’s just part of his neurological condition.” However, she said one of the officers told her: “We don’t have to know about people’s medical conditions.” John said he was tasered twice by the officers, and calls the incident “very humiliating.” “For this to happen to him, it was absolutely unbelievable,” Anne said. “This was after I told him he had a stroke. It’s just too surreal,” said Anne. John also suffered a bleeding lip, and Anne initially thought it was caused by the Taser. That’s why she was confused by an officer telling her three times that “when someone hits me, I hit him back.” “Just that statement in itself appalled me,” she said. She was later told by her husband that the officer struck him, and that he did not punch the officer. However, the officers took John to the RCMP station, and he now faces a court date on three charges, including assaulting a police officer, in relation to the incident. The couple feels the problem with the officer stems back to May, when John drove the wrong way on a one-way street as he tried to navigate through a confusing construction zone. “He started arguing because he was frustrated with all the construction,” said Anne. The officer gave him a ticket for several offences, including failing to obey a flag person, despite the flag person saying that many people were confused about where to go, said Anne. John planned to dispute the ticket related to the flag person, but before that could happen all the tickets were dropped, said Anne. The city’s top cop, Supt. Bill McKinnon, said he was made aware of the Taser situation on Monday and is reviewing the incident. “I am conducting an administrative review, as to date I don’t have a public complaint,” said McKinnon. “I hope to have it done in the next couple of weeks.” Every time a Taser is used, reports must be filled out by the officers. However, the review will look at the incident as a whole to determine if officers followed procedure. As part of the review, McKinnon will look at whether or not further action—such as training or discipline—is warranted in the case. “It’s way too early for me to make any determinations,” he said.
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