Posted on 03/02/2005 7:09:34 AM PST by esryle
AURORA, Colo. -- Aurora police have reviewed a weekend incident in which a man accused of stealing salad from a Chuck E. Cheese salad bar was hit with a stun gun twice by officers and said that proper procedures were followed.
The incident began at 4:05 p.m. Sunday when officers were called to the restaurant on a report of a larceny in progress.
Police talked to the Chuck E. Cheese manager, who told them that a customer had refused to show proof that he had paid for food. The manager said the man was seen "loading" his plate at the salad bar.
The officers confronted Danon Gale, 29, who was at the restaurant with his children, aged 3 and 7. Patrons said the popular kids pizza parlor was packed with children and families at the time.
According to police, Gale was asked to step outside to discuss the incident.
"According to witnesses (Gale) refused to cooperate with police and a struggle ensued," said Larry Martinez, a police spokesman. He said that Gale became argumentative and shoved one of the officers, a fact disputed by another patron.
"One of the officers kept poking the gentleman in the chest," Felicia Mayo told the Rocky Mountain News.
She was there with her 7-year-old son. She told the newspaper that Gale told the officer "You don't have to do that." She said Gale never put his hands on the officer who was confronting him
The argument escalated until Gale was shoved into the lap of Mayo's sister, who was sitting two booths away, holding a 10-month-old baby. That's when police pulled out a Taser stun gun to subdue him.
"They beat this man in front of all these kids then Tased him in my sister's lap," Mayo told the newspaper. "They had no regard for the effect this would have on the kids. This is Chuck E. Cheese, you know."
Gale's two children were "screaming and hollering and crying" as Gale was hit two times with the stun gun.
Police arrested Gale as his children and other customers watched. They took him outside, leaving his children inside the restaurant.
Gale was arrested for investigation of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing.
His two children were picked up by a relative.
The manager of the restaurant declined comment and Gale said he couldn't talk about it, after hiring an attorney.
An Aurora Police spokesman said that the sergeant on the scene wrote a report on the incident and forwarded it to his commander who determined that proper police procedures were followed relating to the use of the Taser gun .
How much larceny is involved?
Adding salad to other order is what $2.50.
This is some serious crime here.
The power hungry manager should have just let it go and see if the guy does it again.
But calling the police for $2.50.
Should arrest the manager for false police call
Now you're just making silly crap up. I've been to this chain a few times and not once was my hand ever stamped.
That you would condone tasering a guy in the lap of a woman holding an infant says it all.
Yes, he will be tried in a court of law. MSM rarely reports stories accurately. Going by what I read, LE over reacted. There are children in that restaurant, and they shouldn't have to see that.
Over a salad, a man gets tazered? I want to see if there is anything else to this incident.
Makes sense to me.
So your solution is to just fight with the guy right there amongst the kids? Have you ever moved an unwilling person through a doorway?
The police are employees of the citizens of this nation. Our laws are enacted by elected representatives. Similarly, the police are our law enforcement representatives. Any lawsuit that will arise from this is going to be against not just the individual police officers but the department as well. If the department loses the case then the payment will come from our taxes...so in a very real sense the legal system views policemen as official representatives of the people.
I would like to reiterate my caveat from my previous post you were responding to, which was that IF this account is accurate...but given the poor quality of our media that is never a given.
The man apparently became violent in a crowd of families. That in itself is dangerous for all concerned, and control needed to be established quickly before he lashed out to hurt anyone. Would you have wanted the police to shoot him instead?
The salad is the only edible dish at Chuck E. Cheese.
It'll bode well for the zap vic that he wasnt charged with petty larceny - I can only surmise that a recpt for him and the kids was found post arrest
In which case I'd lawyer up big and fast and start demanding fun things like youll drop suit if the DA kisses my butt on Main St.
Exactly, which is why I provided a caveat. The story was from a single "witness" which seems odd in a large restaurant full of people.
There were plenty of solutions other than tasering the guy so close to that infant. If they couldn't drag him out the door of the joint they could've at least got him off that woman's lap and handcuffed him on the floor. ....And if they couldn't, they're worthless as LEOs.
What?! You don't like cardboard with processed cheese food melted on it?
Note to Parents (continued),
Remember to bring hearing protection. Noise level inside Chuck E. Cheese exceeds 120db.
They do in every one I have been in. Every family gets a different numbered stamp.
Where does it say that the man became violent?
I didn't read that in the article.
I sure as Hell wouldn't.
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