Guard Uses Taser on Man Holding Newborn

Aug 14, 11:09 PM (ET)

By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) - In a confrontation captured on videotape, a hospital security guard fired a stun gun to stop a defiant father from taking home his newborn, sending both man and child crashing to the floor. Now William Lewis says his baby girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped.
"I've got to wonder what kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby," said George Kirkham, a former police officer and criminologist at Florida State University. "It doesn't take rocket science to realize the baby is going to fall."
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"I've got to wonder what kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby," said George Kirkham, a former police officer and criminologist at Florida State University. "It doesn't take rocket science to realize the baby is going to fall."
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Lewis was arrested and charged with endangering a child. A grand jury in May declined to indict him on that charge, but charged him with retaliation, accusing him of making threats against Boling.

More: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070815/D8R16TI80.html
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It was bound to happen sooner or later :(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1585947

It appears that the dad didn't identify himself as dad and tried to flee the hospital, triggering a security bracelet lockdown system.

I'm not defending the actions of the security guard, but it seems reasonable to suggest that he thought the man was kidnapping the baby.

standing there when the officer tazed the man.

And even if he were trying to kidnap the baby, the elevators were not working due to the wristband still being on the baby.

The officer was incredibly wrong to taze him while holding the baby. The only possible justification for tazing the man while holding the baby would be if the man was physically harming the baby, and then only if tazing the man meant less danger to the baby than not tazing him.

I'm really not impressed with this officer's brain power. He didn't even warn the man that he was going to be tazed if he didn't cooperate.

to cover the gambit of all kinds of actions most Americans would be concerned about. But my how this one stops the heart beating. Why O why would someone do this?

One normally waits for a doctor's release from the hospital, but, unless the baby was in such serious condition that leaving the hospital would endanger her, the parents had the right to take her home.

Unless, of course, the "Patriot Acts" have changed that too.

They are getting way too trigger happy and power drunk.