Police fatally taser gasoline-soaked suspect

[Julius Civitatus]

Source: Digg, Engadget, Daily Mail

As we've reported before, tasers might not be as safe as their makers like to claim. Juan Flores Lopez, a Texas man who had doused himself in gasoline, became the latest unfortunate taser-related casuality when police used the stun device (which sometimes emit sparks) during his arrest. "We don't know what ignited the fire," perplexed officers admitted. The case is currently being investigated by the Texas Rangers.

Full Link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=463321&in_page_id=1811



Read more: http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/21/police-fatally-taser-gasoline-soaked-suspect

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Another case of tasers being used with fatal consequences. These things need to be regulated as any other lethal weapon.

[Hand]

1. "We don't know what ignited the fire"??????

Ever hear of a SPARK PLUG, idiot? :grr:

[liberalnurse]

2. OOPS!

:hide:

[FogerRox]

3. Must be a case of that "BALL LIGHTNING"

obviously not the fault of the police.........

[Julius Civitatus]

5. ...or spontaneous combustion!

Weird stuff, man. Weird stuff.
How could that possibly happen?
:sarcasm:

[Kagemusha]

4. Excuse me but, about your last line in italics there...

You do realize that if tasers are regulated as other lethal weapons, police will still be using them, right? They employ guns, loaded with bullets, that are most certainly lethal weapons. I do not see how your words support a taser ban, which is what most taser opponents seem to want.

[Julius Civitatus]

6. No. Many policemen use tasers nilly-willy because the false claim they are non-lethal

If they are regulated as they do guns, at least there would be a legal basis for excessive use of lethal force. Right now they use tasers (which are lethal) as a substitute for a nightstick.

There should be serious legal consequences for the use of a taser, and I think they should be equal to the use of a gun.

[lynnertic]

10. actually right now they use tasers as a substitute for their cereberal cortex.

[Kagemusha]

11. I've been asked, aren't they referred to as less-lethal weapons now?

I wouldn't know that much, personally.

As for legal consequences, usually, the legal cosnequences for shooting someone violently resisting arrest are... zero.

[whopis01]

7. Tasers don't start fires...

Trigger happy police that shoot tasers at mentally ill people soaked in gasoline start fires.

[saigon68]

20. LOL

[lynnertic]

8. another day, another taser incident. this is ridiculous.

I wonder what would happen with a taser vs. conductive clothing, sort of like a faraday cage, that would disperse the charge? (Sounds like the makings of a super-suit. Coming soon: Batman vs. TaserGirl).

Since taser prongs that are shot dig in up to 1/2-inch (and they're SOOOO sanitary I bet!) a protective jacket/chaps would probably have to be chain-mail.

[shenmue]

9. Well, he did douse himself in gasoline

He didn't exactly make it hard for the police.

These are not the actions of a man who wanted to live a long time.

[Az]

13. Enabling Suicide by Cop is not their job.

Might as well have pulled out a flame thrower and roasted him alive.

[Az]

12. Do the police need a course in basic physics? Electrical spark + gas = Bad!

[TwilightGardener]

14. Taser use always reminds me of Beavis and Butthead...

"Use the Taser! The Taser! Heh heh, heh heh heh heh!" These cops were probably of the same mentality.

[originalpckelly]

15. "We didn't start the fire..."

No, just because they shocked someone with an electrical device that creates a spark that's hot enough to start a fire doesn't mean they were the ones who caused it.

[soothsayer]

16. "we don't know how we burned down Koresh and all those kids in Waco"

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Add a question about how fires start to the police test, please.

[RedCappedBandit]

18. Fucking idiots.

Who trains these morons? Why are they in a position of power to begin with? Why the fuck do we still let them use tasers?

[dkofos]

19. I would expect that kind of an answer from a 5 year old.

Or the attorney general!

[Ezlivin]

21. This is a self-correcting problem; before long we won't be able to afford the gasoline

Self-immolation will only be a shadow of its former self.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

22. I've seen the chest of a person who was tasered

He had scorch marks.

You really don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what ignited this fire.

[AlCzervik]

23. This part here----

Two of his sons who live nearby said their father had been threatening for months to burn himself and his house. His wife was seeking a divorce and he did not want to have to leave the house, the sons said.

the police may have just helped Mr. Lopez's suicide along.