A "disturbing" video appears to show an officer holding a Taser to the man's neck. The city attorney's office also has been called.Last update: November 3, 2009 - 10:57 PM
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan is asking the FBI and the city attorney to review an 18-year-old man's claim that an officer used a Taser on him after he had surrendered.
In a statement Tuesday, Dolan called the video, in which an officer appears to hold the Taser to the back of the man's neck for 15 seconds, "very disturbing." The FBI review will look at possible civil rights violations, while the city attorney will weigh possible criminal charges, he added.
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The footage, released Monday by a lawyer for Rolando Demetrio Ruiz, is the latest videotaped incident raising questions about the department's use of force.
Because of one incident, Dolan required an internal affairs investigator to see any videotaped incident resulting in injuries to a citizen or officer. With another, Dolan required all city officers to watch squad-car video in which a man face-down in a snowbank is punched and kicked by six officers and to discuss the use of force.
The 75 seconds of footage released Monday by lawyer Albert Goins starts with Ruiz facing a car with his hands on the hood. An officer approaches from behind and places a Taser against the back of Ruiz's neck. Ruiz screams and quickly falls out of the camera's view. As another officer approaches Ruiz, a police car drives up and people walk up to watch what is happening. Goins says that those people, including a man visibly smiling, are plainclothes officers.
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