Tribal officer’s stun gun use under investigation

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – Federal investigators are looking into whether an Oglala Sioux police officer improperly used a stun gun on a man who was apparently passed-out on the ground.

The officer probably used the stun gun on the drunk man between five and 10 times, trying to get him “to wake up and stand up,” Tribal Public Safety Chief Ron Duke told the Rapid City Journal.

The man was “lying on the ground, probably passed out, clearly intoxicated,” Duke said.

A video shot by a passer-by that purports to show the Friday incident in Manderson shows onlookers eventually helping the female officer put the man in a police vehicle, after some of the onlookers challenged her actions. The Associated Press did not immediately get a response from the person who posted the video online, and FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said the agency could not speak to the legitimacy of the video.

There is more than one video of the incident, Duke said. The officer had a camera on her uniform, and that will give a different view than the one captured by the passer-by, he said.

The man who was shot with the stun gun ultimately was arrested for disorderly conduct, trespassing and resisting an officer. He was checked at a hospital after asking for medical attention the next day, and “the hospital determined he was OK,” Duke said. The chief did not name him.

The officer, who has been on the force for about 21/2 yearsRAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – Federal investigators are looking into whether an Oglala Sioux police officer improperly used a stun gun on a man who was apparently passed-out on the ground.

The officer probably used the stun gun on the drunk man between five and 10 times, trying to get him “to wake up and stand up,” Tribal Public Safety Chief Ron Duke told the Rapid City Journal.

The man was “lying on the ground, probably passed out, clearly intoxicated,” Duke said.

A video shot by a passer-by that purports to show the Friday incident in Manderson shows onlookers eventually helping the female officer put the man in a police vehicle, after some of the onlookers challenged her actions. The Associated Press did not immediately get a response from the person who posted the video online, and FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said the agency could not speak to the legitimacy of the video.

There is more than one video of the incident, Duke said. The officer had a camera on her uniform, and that will give a different view than the one captured by the passer-by, he said.

The man who was shot with the stun gun ultimately was arrested for disorderly conduct, trespassing and resisting an officer. He was checked at a hospital after asking for medical attention the next day, and “the hospital determined he was OK,” Duke said. The chief did not name him.

The officer, who has been on the force for about 21/2 years, is on paid leave while the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs investigate the use of force, Duke said. The Associated Press was unable to immediately find a telephone number for the officer or determine if she had an attorney.
, is on paid leave while the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs investigate the use of force, Duke said. The Associated Press was unable to immediately find a telephone number for the officer or determine if she had an attorney.