Police tazer handcuffed 13-year-old girl. Twice.

Jacksonville officer investigated for using stun gun on teen

State Attorney Harry Shorstein said Wednesday that excessive force may have been used by police officers who used a stun gun on a 13-year-old girl who was being uncooperative after they took her into custody for fighting with her mother.

The 65-pound girl was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car Feb. 7 when she was shocked twice with a 50,000-volt Taser, according to a Sheriff's Office report. Police departments in Florida and nationwide have been criticized for their use of Taser guns, which some say have caused deaths.

Shorstein said he met with Sheriff John Rutherford and Undersheriff Frank Mackesy, who assured him an internal investigation was being conducted.

"I expressed my concern. They were generally defending the use of Tasers, even against smaller children," the prosecutor said.

"It's not the age, but the size of the child and the fact that she was handcuffed," Shorstein said.

Shorstein said an assistant state attorney called the case to his attention and thought it was a questionable use of a Taser.

The child was originally charged with domestic battery, but the charges were later dismissed.

"We did not think it was an appropriate case to prosecute," he said.

According to the police report, officers were called to a Jacksonville apartment complex after the girl struck her mother in the nose and kicked her in the face.

The girl was handcuffed and placed into a patrol car, but she managed to slide her cuffed arms to the front of her. Police said the refused requests to put her arms behind her back and began kicking and screaming.

An officer attempted to subdue the girl with a neck lock, but was unable to get control of her.

Officer G.A. Nelson then used his Taser on her. When she continued to fight, and she was stunned again, according to the police report. She then complied and placed her arms behind her back.

The action occurred two weeks before Rutherford announced a moratorium on use of Tasers by his department.

Mackesy said the technique used on the girl - putting the Taser directly against the body - was vastly different from the common shooting of barbs into someone.

"It's a localized application that doesn't seize the body. It only hurts the area where you put it."

Mackesy said an internal police investigation is not complete.

"The reason I did this is because of the age and size of the suspect. Just because she was small does not mean she was frail," he said.

The girl's mother told police she had called police because she was afraid the girl was run away and hoped to get medical attention for the girl.

The Sheriff's Office, which has spent $1.8 million for the Tasers, suspended their use Feb. 22, until officers are given more training.

Taser Inc. says its guns are a non-lethal alternative to shooting dangerous suspects. But about 100 people have died nationally since 1999 after being shocked with a Taser, including recent deaths in Pensacola, Hollywood, Naples and Delray Beach. Many of those who died were drug users.