Police taser use caught on camera
Officer used device after warning man during domestic incident
A VIDEO captured the moment that a man was Tasered by an officer in Portsmouth.
The incident took place shortly before 10.50am in Kingston Road, North End on Tuesday.
Police had been scrambled to the street following reports of a ‘domestic incident’ at one of the properties.
Video footage, seen by The News, showed a lone police officer pointing a Taser at the suspect, who was standing inside the doorway of the property.
The officer, who was wearing a mask, could be heard telling the man to ‘put your hands up’.
‘This is a Taser – 50,000 volts… do it now, put your hands up,’ he said.
The officer then called out to another person in the building, asking if they were ‘okay’ before then turning his attention back to the male and warning: ‘Put your hands up or I will Taser you.
‘Show me your hands, show me your hands,’ he added before then firing his weapon at the man, who collapsed to the floor.
A struggle ensues as the officer attempted to detain the male, with members of the public seen to be trying to calm the situation down.
The male was later arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, Hampshire Constabulary confirmed.
One witness, a 36-year-old man who saw what happened but asked not to be named, said: ‘I was totally shocked that the police officer used his Taser. The guy was stood in the doorway and didn’t seem to be threatening or acting aggressively.’
Officers swamped the area in the wake of the incident, with three police cars and a van arriving within minutes.
Witnesses described seeing the police carrying the handcuffed suspect out to a van a few minutes later.
Albert Howarth, 68, of Cosham, was in the street at the time and said: ‘About six police officers carried him out to the van. He had been struggling after being Tasered. One bloke tried to calm him down and told him to behave himself.
‘But before he was Tasered, he wasn’t putting up any resistance.’
Hampshire police confirmed the Taser was used to ‘detain the male safely’ and to ensure the safety of others.
A spokesman added: ‘ We were called to a report of a domestic incident at an address on Kingston Road in Portsmouth.
‘Enquiries have shown that no-one was hurt during the domestic incident.
‘Once in attendance, an officer was assaulted by a man at the address. The officer was not seriously hurt.
‘A 23-year-old man from Portsmouth was arrested on suspicion of common assault and common assault of an emergency worker.
‘He has since been released on conditional bail while police enquiries continue. He has additionally been detained under the Mental Health Act.’