Nov 10 2008 Luckily for a driver who went into severe diabetic shock last month in Oklahoma, police arrived on the scene and called in an ambulance.
But not before they tasered and handcuffed him.
The 53-year-old diabetic man was tasered by police after they suspected him of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and claimed he had resisted arrest -- even though he was actually in shock. The man's truck has spun out on an interstate after he lost control of his vehicle.
The man was wrestled out of his truck and then tazed. The man who was wearing a medical diabetic tag was in severe diabetic shock with blood sugar level of 11.
Diabetic shock often results in confusion, aggression, shaking, sweating and disorientation.
El Reno’s police chief said his officers had no way of knowing the man who was resisting arrest was in need of medical attention.
El Reno Police Chief Ken Brown defended his officers in saying “His actions, his demeanor, his lack to communicate led the officers to believe he was under the influence of intoxicants or narcotics.
With an attitude like that, it is easy to understand why people get tasered so easily in El Reno. Brown is ignoring the fact that the man was not resisting.
His officer (following the view of too many officers) view the use of a taser was warranted when people do not get out of a truck when commanded.