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The Straight Story

(48,121 posts)
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 11:45 AM Mar 2013

Park Ranger Sure Likes Her Taser

Park Ranger Sure Likes Her Taser

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A federal park ranger Tasered a man running with his little dogs and had him held in jail for eight hours, apparently for a leash law violation, the man claims in court.

Gary Hesterberg sued the United States of America and National Park Service Ranger Sarah Cavallaro in Federal Court.

Hesterberg claims he was running trails in Rancho Corral de Tierra in San Mateo County with his leashed beagle and an unleashed rat terrier. The land had recently been transferred to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is managed by the National Park Service.

...

"Plaintiff again informed defendant Cavallaro something to the effect of, 'If you're not going to cite me, you're going to have to let me be on my way.' Then plaintiff turned to leave in protest of defendant Cavallaro's unlawful actions," the complaint states. "In retaliation for plaintiff's exercise of his rights, speech, and expressive conduct, defendant Cavallaro yelled at plaintiff and forcefully grabbed his arm.
...

"Around this time, defendant Cavallaro unholstered her Taser and pointed it towards plaintiff in a threatening manner. Plaintiff told defendant Cavallaro something to the effect of, 'You're going to Tase me now? Do not Tase me. I have a heart condition.' Mr. Babcock told defendant Cavallaro, 'Hey, that's illegal.'

"Plaintiff again asked Defendant Cavallaro something to the effect of, 'What's your authority?' Defendant Cavallaro replied only, 'The Constitution.'

"Plaintiff told defendant Cavallaro something like, 'That's no kind of answer. I'm leaving.' Then plaintiff said, 'Come on, dogs, let's go,' and again began to walk away with his two small dogs in protest of defendant Cavallaro's unlawful actions.

"Without any warning, defendant Cavallaro fired her Taser at plaintiff, shooting him in the back with the Taser's razor-sharp, barbed probes. On information and belief, defendant Cavallaro Tased plaintiff for a five-second cycle.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/03/26/56052.htm

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The Second Stone

(2,900 posts)
4. One of his dogs was unleashed and there are leash laws
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 12:10 PM
Mar 2013

in the Park. He was detained and he decided to flee when he couldn't wait for the Ranger to write him a citation. Writing a citation is an arrest, which, when signed, is a promise to appear. So in addition to the leash law violation, he was resisting arrest and attempting to flee.

I predict that the federal judge will dismiss the suit.

Gore1FL

(21,035 posts)
11. That doesn't equate to what the article says:
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 12:30 PM
Mar 2013
"there was a change in the NPS leash rule such that dog owners were no longer allowed to walk their dogs off-leash in Rancho Coral de Tierra," Hesterberg says in the complaint. "This change in the leash rule was not well-publicized, and at the time of this incident, the trails where plaintiff ran with his dogs were not posted with any signage to inform park users of the rule change."

<snip>

"Defendant Cavallaro did not identify herself to plaintiff, and plaintiff did not know who she was, who employed her, or that she was a law enforcement officer," the complaint states.

<snip>

Hesterberg was taken to jail where he remained until 12:30 a.m., some eight hours after the initial confrontation. No charges were pursued against him, he says.

 

The Second Stone

(2,900 posts)
16. I know a great deal about NPS law enforcement rangers professionally
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 03:38 PM
Mar 2013

and they are supposed to avoid writing tickets if at all possible. They are required to be in uniform unless undercover. It may be that this Ranger was out of line, and I suspect that she was because you do not tase someone for dog walking off a leash. You also do not stop people for it or carry the taser without being in uniform. But at this point we only have one side of the story, a person committing an infraction and then being utterly uncooperative, with an attitude. He may not have thought he was legally stopped, but he might have been, in which case, leaving would be resisting and/or obstruction. The law is (and I don't like it) that the police can stop you and handcuff you for your safety upon reasonable suspicion and keep you that way for as long as the judge sees fit.

Demoiselle

(6,787 posts)
18. Thanks for your serious response.
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 08:40 PM
Mar 2013

I know I was being snarky and the quota wisecrack made nasty assumptions which I shouldn't have made. I hope that this all gets straightened out. Very sad and unpleasant experience for everybody, I would imagine. I don't think I'd have the patience for a job like the ranger's.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
13. The tasing wasn't justified, but the article does leave out two pertinent facts.
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 12:53 PM
Mar 2013

1) The complaint repeatedly says that she didn't identify herself. In truth, she was in full uniform with her badge showing.

2) He wasn't being detained for having his dog off-leash. He was originally stopped for that, but he was actually detained because he gave a false name to the ranger when he was initially stopped. He wasn't going to get cited for the dog leash thing, but it's illegal to falsely identify yourself to a law enforcement officer, and he WAS being detained and cited for that (note: It's perfectly legal to refuse to give an officer your name...it is NOT legal to lie and give an officer a fraudulent name). Once she realized that he'd falsely identified himself, she detained him and ran his name to verify that he didn't give a false name to avoid a warrant arrest or something.

Neither of these justifies the use of the taser, and her actions were totally inappropriate and unprofessional. What she SHOULD have done was to formally detain him, cuff him, and sit him down. If he tried to run from an actual arrest, the tasing might have been somewhat justified. But as it is, the guy simply tried to walk away from a situation where his actual status wasn't made clear to him. She had the authority and right to detain him in that situation, but she failed to do so properly and then completely overreacted when he got frustrated with the situation and walked off.

 

OnyxCollie

(9,958 posts)
14. It's not legal everywhere to refuse to give your name.
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 01:57 PM
Mar 2013

It's been illegal in Ohio since 2006 to refuse to give your name to a police officer.

New Ohio Law Allows Cops to Request ID
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181382,00.html#ixzz2OfaLr3RI

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
15. Remind me to stay out of Ohio.
Tue Mar 26, 2013, 02:19 PM
Mar 2013

I'm a bit of an absolutist when it comes to civil rights. I'd probably end up in jail in Ohio :\

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