![]() ![]() He's refusing to get out of the vehicle," an emergency dispatcher said in a recording obtained by NBC 5 Investigates. ![]() "Lindsay, be advised he's poured gasoline all over himself. Police pulled him over near the small town of Lindsay on reports that he was acting suicidal, possibly armed and carrying a red can. His mother told NBC 5 Investigates he suffered from bipolar disorder. "If you are training one thing and your policy says something else, then …that's a recipe for disaster," Staton said, in an interview with NBC 5 Investigates.Īrlington Police Chief Will Johnson refused to comment on the Olivas case because Olivas' family has filed a lawsuit against the city.įour months later, in rural Oklahoma, Dana Carrothers was also in distress. Jerry Staton, a former police officer and master Taser instructor, said the fire risks should be spelled out in both training and in the official use-of-force policy, which officers are required to follow. Some police departments include similar warnings in their use-of-force policies, such as in Dallas where officers are told, in capital letters, they "will not" deploy a weapon near a flammable substance.īut at least nine departments do not include a fire warning in their policies, opting, instead, to address the potential risks in their training materials. Jerry Staton, a former police officer and master Taser instructor, talks about the fire risk associated with the devices and how department policy regarding their use should mirror the training provided to officers. No official ruling was made in either case on what actually started the fires, though police reports said fire consumed both Olivas and Carrothers immediately after they were struck by the charged electrodes of a Taser. NBC 5 Investigates studied the cases of Gabriel Olivas, of Arlington, who died in July 2017, and Dana Carrothers, who died that following November near the small town of Lindsay, Oklahoma, after both men, covered in gasoline, were struck by a Taser weapon fired by police. The outcome in both began with tortured cries, the acrid smell of burning flesh and finally, possibly even mercifully considering their awful injuries, death. In both cases, officers decided to pull the trigger on the Taser. The question facing officers, do they use a Taser to disable the person, despite well-documented warnings that it may start a fire, or do they risk the man harming himself and potentially others? ![]() In each scene, a man in distress had drenched himself in gasoline and was threatening suicide. Two horrific scenes, one in Arlington and a second alongside a darkened stretch of road in Oklahoma, forced police officers to make immediate and dangerous life-or-death decisions. ![]()
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