Phillies Fan Tasered for Running Onto Field [Archive]

Xanator

05-04-2010, 01:15 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/05/04/phillies-fan-tasered-running-field/

17-year-old kid hops fence and escapes the best efforts of a few pudgy white guys to corral him, gets tasered. The Philadelphia PD has stood behind their man, saying that he "acted appropriately," though the team is talking with the police to determine whether this is an "appropriate use of force" going forward. Way to add another one to the long list of Philadelphia sports fan jokes.

My personal feeling is that the young man was obviously not dangerous in any way, and I don't think acting like an idiot just to get a laugh out of 40,000+ people is necessarily grounds for being tasered. Drunks have been running on the field for ages--people have been STREAKING on the field for ages--this kid just managed to evade the officer long enough for him to weigh the potential public fallout surrounding a taser incident vs. the psychologically damaging effects of having to wait ten minutes/shedding five or six more calories before consuming another pastry.

That said, it's always satisfying to see someone actually have to deal with the consequences of being a douchebag.

Best video angle I've seen so far: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riCu3LJOgmk

Atlanteax

05-04-2010, 01:27 PM

The moron seems to be completely fine post getting tasered.

Edit to add: Probably would only be a big deal if if it was a white cop and the moron was hispanic or black or asian.

Clove

05-04-2010, 01:30 PM

Considering Philly burned down an entire apartment building evacuating the Move back in the 80's I think they showed relative restraint by not involving a sniper.

Allereli

05-04-2010, 02:44 PM

Too bad he didn't shit his pants

Kitsun

05-04-2010, 02:46 PM

Thats what he gets for running in a straight line! Have to zigzag!

Tisket

05-04-2010, 02:50 PM

Poor kid. Just wait until he gets the bill for damage to the turf from skidding on his FACE.

Daniel

05-04-2010, 02:54 PM

The moron seems to be completely fine post getting tasered.

Edit to add: Probably would only be a big deal if if it was a white cop and the moron was hispanic or black or asian.

In before I get blamed for pulling the race card.

Daniel

05-04-2010, 02:55 PM

But seriously, that's fucking hilarious. That kid just drops.

BigWorm

05-04-2010, 03:01 PM

This was one of the highlights of last night's game, probably behind only David Freese's three run double and the gem of a game Jaime Garcia pitched.

Celephais

05-04-2010, 06:56 PM

Hah! What an awesome photo they got of just before it:
http://static.foxsports.com/content/fscom/img/2010/05/04/050310-Fan-Gallery10-JW_20100504130745_600_400.JPG

Soulpieced

05-04-2010, 07:09 PM

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/SpazzyMcGee/cat.JPG

Archigeek

05-04-2010, 07:24 PM

The guy was an idiot, but that's certainly not an appropriate use of force. It's clear that he was tazed to stop him from running. Force should not be used without the threat of danger by the suspect to himself, the officer or others, and obviously there was no threat of danger there. Force for the purpose of putting an end to some idiots shenanigans is a slippery slope and an abuse of authority. And if you watch the video, it's clear from the start that the cop was intent on tazing the guy from the start. That was the solution he had in mind. From the moment the video starts he has the tazer out and aimed and is just looking for a clear shot.

I think I'm convinced that tazers are just too easy to use. It's kind of like drones firing missles: you can get dirty without getting your hands dirty, and it's just too tempting to short cut other important steps in conflict resolution. That said, "don't taze me bro" is a classic line from that guy in Florida.

Stanley Burrell

05-04-2010, 07:24 PM

They need to protect the players, they don't know how plum crazy whoever it is that rushes onto the field :shrug:

Tisket

05-04-2010, 07:36 PM

They need to protect the players, they don't know how plum crazy whoever it is that rushes onto the field :shrug:

Oh puhleeze. It's a kid waving a piece of cloth while trying to avoid large men intent on smearing him in the grass. Crazy? Maybe. Dangerous? Hardly.

Stunseed

05-04-2010, 07:38 PM

I actually agree with SB here. The players deserve the security to do their job, without having to look over their shoulders. That knob of a child could have had a knife or gun or Nathan's brats duct-taped to his chest.

Archigeek

05-04-2010, 07:46 PM

I think the problem is that they need to stop hiring fat upper-middle aged men to be security at baseball games. Wasn't there a video not long ago where it was the ballboy or somebody who makes a great tackle ona a field-runner? I'm not really sympathetic to the guy who ran on the field, I just think it makes police look bad when they turn to quickly to a violent, dangerous solution when just tackling the guy is all that's really necessary.

The other thing I think of is that they must have a gameplan for this sort of situation. They must have meetings where they go over it, etc. Was this guy in those meetings, and was this the game plan? Or did this guy just get tired of huffing and puffing and decide on his own he wanted to get back to baseball? If they don't have a game plan for this sort of thing, then they're stupid.

Stunseed

05-04-2010, 07:50 PM

Anebriated

05-04-2010, 07:52 PM

Personally I dont see this as over the top. As SB said you need to protect the players and people shouldnt be running on the field to begin with so a quick tazer shot to knock the person off their feet isnt too much. You never know with people anymore, he obviously wasnt but he could have been the next to run on the field and beat up a first base coach(or a player...). Hindsight is 20/20, let security do their job.

Tisket

05-04-2010, 07:54 PM

Although I believe security should be equipped with tasers I also feel this was a retarded, over-the-top response to a kid's prank. I'm not impressed with that security officer's common sense in this particular situation.

Archigeek

05-04-2010, 08:04 PM

Tackles and physicality allow anyone with half their senses to be close to a security officer and with any wit, the weapons on their belt. Spray, knife, baton, tazer, gun....It just seems safer to go with the taze that is sensory overload and 30 seconds later, you return to your senses. Anyone getting bludgeoned risks getting a hospital stay on the police's dollar for excessive force.

That being said, most that need tackled are morons/drunk/special and wouldn't think of going for the rent-a-cop's utility belt. A 0% chance is best, still.

Has this ever happened in the entire history of drunks running onto the sports field, (in the US mind you, no soccer houligans included!)? Nope.

No drunk has ever gone for a weapon, hell most of them are doing everything they can to concentrate and stay on their feet while running. Like I said, it's just too easy to pull the trigger; it's too easy to take the decision lightly, and it isn't without consequences. With both the tazer and the tazee running, it's possible he could have missed and hit one of the other guys, or, the guy he hit could have been one of those guys that dies from it. That does happen you know. Then what? Then where's your excessive force dollar going?

Barundar

05-04-2010, 08:15 PM

Has this ever happened in the entire history of drunks running onto the sports field, (in the US mind you, no soccer houligans included!)? Nope.

No drunk has ever gone for a weapon, hell most of them are doing everything they can to concentrate and stay on their feet while running. Like I said, it's just too easy to pull the trigger; it's too easy to take the decision lightly, and it isn't without consequences. With both the tazer and the tazee running, it's possible he could have missed and hit one of the other guys, or, the guy he hit could have been one of those guys that dies from it. That does happen you know. Then what? Then where's your excessive force dollar going?

Or he could have tackled him and someone had their neck broken. I have zero stats to back this up but I THINK that tasering someone is going to be a less dangerous way to stop someone for all parties involved.

I also have to say that the idea that no drunk has ever gone for a weapon seems a tad broad. I'm sure no prankster (like this kid turned out to be) would bother trying to grab a weapon and start going all murdertastic but at the time of the incident is it really possible to make that judgment?

Stunseed

05-04-2010, 08:17 PM

I'd wager the fat rent-a-cop has a better chance of dying from a heart attack than a fit field runner getting tazed. The safety of others is not to be taken lightly, either. A fat man body slam could break limbs or a neck, etc...I just happen to see it as a firm action that shows consequence without a higher mortality rate. If it were a perfect world, the fence would be electric and make the moron/drunk into a fish stick upon climbing on it. ( Baseball could be alot more fun if it worked on the outfielders, "It's going deep...Vasquez on the wall...ZAP! He just hit the cracklin-back wall, look at him twitch! GROUND RULE DOUBLE )

People die in plane crashes, but it is still the safest means of transportation.

Valthissa

05-04-2010, 08:43 PM

Police use of tasers kills roughly 50 people a year (it is safer than shooting at suspects).

There is a court case from the 9th circuit that sets the standard for the use of a taser at 'imminent threat'. I would venture to say that while annoying, disruptive, or (insert your adjective here) this jackass was no imminent threat to anyone. I base that opinion on the video.

Here in Virgina a 17 year old kid was killed last year in his home by the police use of a taser.

C/Valth

Anebriated

05-04-2010, 08:57 PM

Understand where you are coming from but the guy with the taser was an off duty philadelphia police officer. Its not like every security guard is running around with a taser to use at will. Its non-lethal and takes the person off their feet without much risk of injury. Its a good result for something incredibly stupid that happens all over the world. I like that Philly stepped up and said if you are gonna disrupt the game then were gonna tase you bro!

Hulkein

05-04-2010, 09:03 PM

Over-the-top response. If he was running at players in a threatening manner, that's a different story.

Clove

05-04-2010, 09:34 PM

There is a court case from the 9th circuit that sets the standard for the use of a taser at 'imminent threat'. I would venture to say that while annoying, disruptive, or (insert your adjective here) this jackass was no imminent threat to anyone. I base that opinion on the video.

Over-the-top response. If he was running at players in a threatening manner, that's a different story.He was a nuisance; that's all. It didn't require tazering OR tackling. Just patience (guy can't run forever) and ride to the local jail.

Considering the crime, that sort of force is an overreaction. I just can't justify tazering jackasses because they interrupted our entertainment. Sorry.

Celephais

05-04-2010, 09:52 PM

He was a nuisance; that's all. It didn't require tazering OR tackling. Just patience (guy can't run forever) and ride to the local jail.
That'd be awesome if one of those hypermarathon runners ran out onto the field...

Xanator

05-04-2010, 09:52 PM

They need to protect the players, they don't know how plum crazy whoever it is that rushes onto the field :shrug:

Several Phillies placed gloves over their faces and appeared to be stifling laughter at the wild scene.

While I agree that you don't know who's capable of doing what, the fact that the players were laughing at the kid and making no effort to leave the field kind of blows this defense out of the water.

I mean, say someone's just committed a non-violent crime, and the cop sees him running 30 feet away, rather than 25 (the range of a Taser, far as I know). Should he just go ahead and pull a gun, but aim for the legs, or something? You don't know what that guy's gonna do.

Celephais

05-04-2010, 10:01 PM

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tvsquad.com/media/2009/10/phillie_always_sunny.jpg

Clove

05-04-2010, 10:21 PM

That'd be awesome if one of those hypermarathon runners ran out onto the field...Okay. That would be hella awesome. And imagine if all the lolz got stifled 2 minutes in by a stupid tazer?
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tvsquad.com/media/2009/10/phillie_always_sunny.jpgYou think that's funny? A lot of people don't realize the Philly Fanatic's tongue is a tazer. That motherfucker is messing with 250k volts of mascot rage....

Barundar

05-04-2010, 10:43 PM

Tisket

05-04-2010, 11:57 PM

I'm guessing someone like Monica Seles would have a vastly different opinion about allowing some random jackass to show up on the field of play. We all know that we don't belong down there on the field, when you see that someone has already made the dumbshit choice to go running around down there can you really say they are going to be making logical decisions about what they should and shouldn't be doing?

Just because a tennis match and a baseball game are both sporting events doesn't mean the same methods should be used to deal with an intruder. You only make yourself ridiculous by insisting they should. This was a kid running around a baseball field while surrounded by beefy men intent on bodyslamming him to the ground. You can't compare it to a small, intimately-sized tennis court and the methods that would need be used for a similar intruder there.

What the hell ever happened to common sense?

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w66/Sassy_Photos_2007/zzzzzcommon_sense.jpg

Barundar

05-05-2010, 12:37 AM

This was a kid running around a baseball field while surrounded by beefy men intent on bodyslamming him to the ground.

First off I love the Deadpool reference. Second, I have to think that getting shocked and disabled is going to be less damaging than getting hit with "beefy men intent on bodyslamming him to the ground."

My point with the Monica Seles reference was that you really don't know what people intend when they make their way onto the playing surface, the only thing that can be sure is that they don't belong. I think she's a particularly good example if only because tennis is not that big a draw. The outfield in a Phillies game is full of (relatively) famous millionaires. All that aside, if you would like examples that are more in line with baseball I can share them as well.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/09/19/royals_whitesox_ap/

Tisket

05-05-2010, 12:49 AM

My point with the Monica Seles reference was that you really don't know what people intend when they make their way onto the playing surface

That is why you use common sense and your fucking brain. I don't for a moment believe that the people chasing that kid thought he was a danger to anyone and yet he still ended up tased. Why would anyone argue that failing to use a reasonable response and good judgement is acceptable?

Archigeek

05-05-2010, 01:14 AM

"You never know what someone is going to do" is never a good arguement for action, simply because the statement applies to everyone.

As for someone who actually looks threatening, (as opposed to smiling and laughing and waving a white towel), more dangerous methods of stopping them may be appropriate. The taser is just too easy to use; too easy to choose as a first approach when other, less lethal methods are more appropriate.

Barundar

05-05-2010, 01:14 AM

That is why you use common sense and your fucking brain. I don't for a moment believe that the people chasing that kid thought he was a danger to anyone and yet he still ended up tased. Why would anyone argue that failing to use a reasonable response and good judgement is acceptable?

Alright, let's just say for a moment that every person that runs down onto the field is just a harmless idiot. Is it still preferable to you that he be physically tackled instead of tasered?

Barundar

05-05-2010, 01:17 AM

"You never know what someone is going to do" is never a good arguement for action, simply because the statement applies to everyone.

I actually agree with you on this point, however, when you are facing a position where someone has already done something they shouldn't be doing like jumping into the field in a pro baseball game the question stops becoming "You never know what someone is going to do" and starts becoming a declaration of "this person doesn't give much of a shit what they do."

Tisket

05-05-2010, 02:04 AM

Alright, let's just say for a moment that every person that runs down onto the field is just a harmless idiot. Is it still preferable to you that he be physically tackled instead of tasered?

I think he should have been grabbed and dragged to the ground, just like the large number of assholes that have run onto fields before him and will run onto fields after him.

Listen, my issue isn't with security personnel carrying tasers. They have a role in maintaining safety. My issue is the lack of a measured response in this particular incident. The measured response of security to a kid running around on a field shouldn't be to go as far as you possibly can, it's responding to the needs of the situation. And he didn't need to get tased. It's clear from the video that nobody was in any danger at all from this little attention whore looking for his 15 minutes of fame.

Methais

05-05-2010, 02:57 AM

Hopefully he'll put on a rubber suit under his clothes and do it again, impervious to the taser's wrath.

When people run onto the field they should just let them run around but keep the game going, with all the teams having secret agreements to throw easy pitches as long as the batter aims for the runner.

Tisket

05-05-2010, 03:03 AM

I'd pay for tickets to watch that.

Sean of the Thread

05-05-2010, 03:48 AM

I'm of the more traditional idea... chase the guy down and tackle him guys.

The kid was weilding a towel! he wasn't weilding a knife or gun or 20 sticks of dyno and 72 virgins. After a few seconds of observation he obviously wasn't arab so nobody was in danger.

Unless perhaps the towel came off his head. /shrug

Clove

05-05-2010, 06:52 AM

Stay off my side fucker!

Clove

05-05-2010, 06:54 AM

Alright, let's just say for a moment that every person that runs down onto the field is just a harmless idiot. Is it still preferable to you that he be physically tackled instead of tasered?Ah, the "It's okay because I could have done something worse." excuse. Sure. Why tackle him? Why not shoot him instead? You don't have to tackle him at all, you can wait until he gets tired of running and arrest him.

Kuyuk

05-05-2010, 08:01 AM

Or you can have the players line up and try and hit him with balls?

IorakeWarhammer

05-05-2010, 09:23 AM

<3phillies

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phantasm

05-18-2010, 10:28 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/Sports/050410_taser_doomsday_604x341.jpg

This photo is amazing.

I would be proud to frame that over my fireplace if I were him.

Mighty Nikkisaurus

05-18-2010, 12:11 PM

I didn't see this thread before.

I don't care if the person is dangerous or not, I don't go to a baseball game to watch some random fucktard run around on the field trying to evade security. Whatever asshole decides to do that deserves to be tased. All I want is the field clear and to get back to the ballgame. If I want to see fuckery I'll tune into VH1 reality shows at my own leisure.

Oh and that picture is glorious.

Gan

05-18-2010, 12:12 PM

The taser was very appropriate in this situation. Minimal use of force necessary in capture, restraint and removal makes for a safe resolution that this intruder brought upon himself.

Yes he could be tackled. The officers involved risk injury performing said tackle, restraint and removal. The intruder risks injury being tackled, restrained and removed. The premisis risk litigation by intruder if injury occurrs during tackle, restraint and removal. As it stands, the only person facing possible injury was the intruder - which brought about the actions on himself for trespassing where he did not belong.

This is without all the what if scenarios of player endangerment based on the unknown of what this guy's motives were. There's a huge investment of human capital out on that field. I'd want the intruder neutralized as quick as possible before something happened.