Indiana officer uses stun gun on 10-year-old

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By CARLY EVERSON, Associated Press

One officer called to a home day care to help control an unruly 10-year-old used a stun gun on the boy and another slapped him in the face when he wouldn't listen to them, a central Indiana chief police said Thursday.

The child suffered no significant injuries. Both officers have been placed on administrative duty while the Tuesday confrontation is being investigated.

Martinsville Police Chief Jon Davis said he believed the two officers could have restrained the 94-pound boy without using force. Davis said the Morgan County Sheriff's Department was investigating and an internal review was planned on the officer's use of the stun gun.

"We need to look at it a lot closer because it's not really made for 10-year-olds," he said at a news conference.

Assistant Police Chief Dan Riffel said he spoke with the boy and his mother on Wednesday and that the boy's only injuries were marks on his upper arm where he was shocked by the stun gun. Officials declined to identify the child.

The officers arrived at the house to find the boy out of control, hitting and kicking his caretakers, according to police. He also wouldn't obey the officers before they used force, they said.

Davis said the confrontation occurred on the porch of the house while other children were inside. Police had been called to the day care once before in recent months about the same child, he said.

The chief said Officer Darren Johnson, who has been with the department almost three years, used the stun gun, while Capt. William Jennings, a 36-year veteran, slapped the child.

The officers couldn't immediately be located for comment; they didn't attend the news conference and no home telephone numbers were listed in their names. The Associated Press sent messages to their Police Department e-mail addresses.

A woman who answered the door Thursday at the home day care declined to comment.

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[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Martinsville Police Chief Jon Davis said he believed the two officers could have restrained the 94-pound boy without using force.

[Fandango 1,440]

I smell a lawsuit brewin!

[Calypso 465]

Was the boy that powerful?

[Fandango 1,440]

Is that the new word for fat?

[Peikko 1,575]

Police should not be used for this type of issue, it's ridiculous. If a child care facility do not know how to control the children in their charge, heaven help us.

[mawilson 2,133]

I smell a lawsuit brewin!

I see a new market for child-safe tazers.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Was the boy that powerful?

Where did you get this photo! It makes me want to cry. Seriously.

[Calypso 465]

Where did you get this photo! It makes me want to cry. Seriously.

I just went to Google Images and typed "10-year-old fat boy."

Were you once like that?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I just went to Google Images and typed "10-year-old fat boy."

Were you once like that?

I had the opposite problem actually. By 15 I was 6'1" and weighed only 135. I was a pasty white geek who would spend hours a day playing online first person shooters.

Edited April 1, 2010 by Sousuke

[Calypso 465]

I had the opposite problem actually. By 15 I was 6'1" and weighed only 135. I was a pasty white geek who would spend hours a day playing online first person shooters.

I understand. I haven't grown beyond 5'3" but until I finished college, everybody was calling me skinny no matter how much I ate. The word "skinny" has never made me glad.

I only started gaining weight in December 2008, three months before I stopped teaching high school.

[mawilson 2,133]

I understand. I haven't grown beyond 5'3" but until I finished college, everybody was calling me skinny no matter how much I ate. The word "skinny" has never made me glad.

I only started gaining weight in December 2008, three months before I stopped teaching high school.

Well, your avatar doesn't look skinny.

[Calypso 465]

Well, your avatar doesn't look skinny.

Of course. I've been gaining weight in a healthy way. Your avatar does look skinny though.

[trillium13 84]

If they could call the cops, why couldn't they call the kid's parents to deal with him?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

If they could call the cops, why couldn't they call the kid's parents to deal with him?

Good question.