Cops Use Taser on Combative Man at NY Fire
By Anne Hayes
Source syracuse.com
DEWITT, N.Y. — A man was tased at a DeWitt fire Friday morning during a confrontation with officers who were attempting to move him away from the scene.
The man was trying to get into the home and was yelling about his dead pets.
Around 8:30 a.m., a residential fire was reported at the Midler Meadows Mobile Home Park, 407 North Midler Ave., according to Onondaga County 911 Center dispatches. When fire crews arrived, flames were raging through the home.
Dispatchers informed responders that all the residents got out, but a woman was attempting to reenter the home to save animals trapped inside. The woman was distraught and repeatedly said she just wanted her dog.
The man who got into the confrontation with police arrived about an hour after the fire was reported. The fire was mostly out but crews were still working inside the destroyed home.
The man went straight to the home and attempted to go inside, but firefighters stopped him.
Quickly police and firefighters tried to get the man away from the home. The man yelled for them to leave him alone. He said that his animals had just died and he wanted to know what happened.
The man became increasingly aggressive when the homeowners and neighbors told him to leave and that he wasn’t welcome there. He began yelling and swearing at the crowd. Police walked him away from the home and tried to calm him down.
He continued to swear at police and during the confrontation with police he swung his arm toward an officer. Seconds later he was shot with a taser gun and collapsed to the ground.
Officers placed him in handcuffs and brought him over to an ambulance already on the scene.
A spokesperson for DeWitt police was not immediately available to comment on the incident. It is unclear if the man was arrested.
The home sustained severe fire damage and was actively smoking over an hour after crews arrived. A fire department official was not immediately available to comment on the fire.
It is unclear how many animals may have been trapped inside the residence or how many were injured or died.
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