Man Tazed After Refusing To Stop Putting Out Fire

[techs]

http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories...omeowner-tazered-while-trying-to-put-out-fire
video at link

Florida homeowner was put down after rejecting cops' orders to back away from flames threatening his home

Pinellas Park, Florida-Your neighbor's house is on fire and it's threatening your home. What do you do as you wait for firefighters to arrive? One man picked up a hose- except this got him tazered by police.

Daniel Jensen is resting in his home after being treated for smoke inhalation.

His attorney says he's too emotionally upset to speak to reporters after being tazered in front of his two children.

Neighbor Luis Rosa witnessed Jensen as he stood between his home and his neighbor's home using a hose to put out the fire threatening both homes.

Luis Rosa says Jensen did what any homeowner would do as a raging grease fire next door threatened his home Thursday evening.

"He was basically just protecting his property. He was hosing the fence down making sure the fire didn't jump to the other side, and he was doing a good job."

Rosa says Pinellas Park Police pulled Jensen back from the fire several times.

"First they pulled the hose away from him, then they said 'you got to get out', and they kind of pushed him back. He looks back of the house sees the fire starting to jump over again."

By then Rosa said with no firefighters in sight, Jensen lost his patience.

Rosa said he heard Jensen asking, "Where the hell are the firefighters? Where the hell are the firefighters? He ran back and grabbed the hose."

And that's when Rosa says he saw an officer grab a tazer. "By the garbage can- the cop just tazered him and he dropped to the ground, and then the other two cops grabbed him and put him the cop cruiser."

"They were trying to get him out of that dangerous situation," says Captain Sanfield Forseth with the Pinellas Park Police Department.

Pinellas Park Police say they tazered Jensen after exhausting all their options.

Captain Forseth said, "They made several attempts verbally to get him out. He'd walk in, they'd pull him back- he kept pulling forward towards the fire. He wouldn't allow them to pull him back..."

Rosa said, "I thought it was totally abusive, and they did not have to do it. You get emotional when these things happen; he reacted the way he's suppose to react- rather than handle the situation they said here this short cut."

Rosa said the officers could have spent more time talking to Jensen then each other. "Instead of walking him (Jensen) to the front and they (police) stand here chatting, they could have calmed him down."

Jensen's attorney Heidi Imhof says police went too far. "He was trying to protect his home, protect his neighbor's home. He was tazered while standing in a puddle of water. This is clearly an excessive use of force case."

Pinellas Park Police say they have enough to charge Jensen with obstruction but Captain Forseth said they are not going to do that.

Imhof says the officer who tazed Jensen was ordered to by his sergeant.


LOL@Florida

 

[olds]

Fire the cops

 

[purbeast0]

well he WAS trying to spread the fire, so you can't really blame the cops for trying to stop him.

 

[SandEagle]

Fire the cops

why? the guy was verbally told many times to step back. the cops had 'exhausted all options' and did what they had to in order to prevent this guy from burning to death. if anything, they deserve awards.


































LOL

 

[momeNt]

That is what you get for not listening to police.

We have an extraordinarily robust public school system, can't one class be dedicated to respect for authority? Start young and a lot of these problems can be avoided.

It's getting more and more difficult for peace officers to do their job nowadays, and the solution is right in front of us.

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

I might of missed something, but aren't you NOT supposed to throw water in a grease fire? Or is that a myth. If true, sounds like the cops did the right thing.

 

[momeNt]

I might of missed something, but aren't you NOT supposed to throw water in a grease fire? Or is that a myth. If true, sounds like the cops did the right thing.

That only matters for when a grease fire is contained inside a pot or something.

Water will sink to the bottom and force the grease to the top, overflowing it and spreading the flame grease out of the pot and all over the place.

 

[PrinceMyshkin]

That only matters for when a grease fire is contained inside a pot or something.

Water will sink to the bottom and force the grease to the top, overflowing it and spreading the flame grease out of the pot and all over the place.

Gotcha, that makes sense. I didn't think about the situation all the way through when I made the initial post.

 

[child of wonder]

That only matters for when a grease fire is contained inside a pot or something.

Water will sink to the bottom and force the grease to the top, overflowing it and spreading the flame grease out of the pot and all over the place.

Plus it said he was spraying the fence between the yards to prevent the fire from spreading to his house.

Cops FAIL.

Homeowner soon to be rich via tax payer dollars.

 

[momeNt]

Cops need personal accountability, the way misconduct is handled with police is atrocious. They need to know their jobs are on the line as well as their savings, and misconduct should be actionable in civil cases.

 

[NetWareHead]

That only matters for when a grease fire is contained inside a pot or something.

Water will sink to the bottom and force the grease to the top, overflowing it and spreading the flame grease out of the pot and all over the place.

In a grease fire, burning grease is typically burning at temps of 500 degrees or greater. Water will sink below the grease and rapidly flash into steam causing an explosion as the steam vents splashing grease everywhere.

 

[momeNt]

In a grease fire, burning grease is typically burning at temps of 500 degrees or greater. Water will sink below the grease and rapidly flash into steam causing an explosion as the steam vents splashing grease everywhere.

Similar to what I said, main point is that even if grease was on his fence it wouldn't be in the no-no category of water on grease fire.

 

[Jadow]

why? the guy was verbally told many times to step back. the cops had 'exhausted all options' and did what they had to in order to prevent this guy from burning to death. if anything, they deserve awards.
LOL

so he was on his own property not breaking any laws. Can cops just order you around to do anything? Are they gods or men? Fuck them

 

[dud]

Plus it said he was spraying the fence between the yards to prevent the fire from spreading to his house.

Cops FAIL.

Homeowner soon to be rich via tax payer dollars.

Doubtful even in this ridiculous state. This is what happens (and SHOULD happen) when you fail to follow the instructions of law enforcement.

We weren't there ... and it's easy for the fools here to jump to conclusions but my guess that there's a good chance the guy could/might have lost his life fighting the fire with a garden hose. He has HO insurance ... is your life worth it?

In this case it may very well be homeowner FAIL, homeowner life SAVED.

Fool ...

 

[dud]

so he was on his own property not breaking any laws. Can cops just order you around to do anything? Are they gods or men? Fuck them

Repeat this the next time you need police assistance, foolish one ...

 

[momeNt]

Doubtful even in this ridiculous state. This is what happens (and SHOULD happen) when you fail to follow the instructions of law enforcement.

We weren't there ... and it's easy for the fools here to jump to conclusions but my guess that there's a good chance the guy could/might have lost his life fighting the fire with a garden hose. He has HO insurance ... is your life worth it?

In this case it may very well be homeowner FAIL, homeowner life SAVED.

Fool ...

Trying too hard.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Doubtful even in this ridiculous state. This is what happens (and SHOULD happen) when you fail to follow the instructions of law enforcement.

We weren't there ... and it's easy for the fools here to jump to conclusions but my guess that there's a good chance the guy could/might have lost his life fighting the fire with a garden hose. He has HO insurance ... is your life worth it?

In this case it may very well be homeowner FAIL, homeowner life SAVED.

Fool ...

Wtf... Even if it's a worst case situation and he's putting himself in danger, let him. It's his life, his home, his risk.


Typical LEO overreaction. How dare someone ignore their "orders". Heil LEO. Heil LEO.

 

[DesiPower]

fire the cops and make sure they don't procreate... I wonder what would have happened if his house was actually burnt, police dept would have paid for it?
Anyways I believe he will get enough from police dept to retire happily...

 

[DCal430]

Doubtful even in this ridiculous state. This is what happens (and SHOULD happen) when you fail to follow the instructions of law enforcement.

We weren't there ... and it's easy for the fools here to jump to conclusions but my guess that there's a good chance the guy could/might have lost his life fighting the fire with a garden hose. He has HO insurance ... is your life worth it?

In this case it may very well be homeowner FAIL, homeowner life SAVED.

Fool ...

If he wants to die defending his home from a fire let him.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Wtf... Even if it's a worst case situation and he's putting himself in danger, let him. It's his life, his home, his risk.


Typical LEO overreaction. How dare someone ignore their "orders". Heil LEO. Heil LEO.

Doesn't usually work that way.

If a guy kills himself doing something ridiculously stupid while LEO are standing by, don't you think there would be some sort of huge community outcry if they did nothing? Something along the lines of "That guy wasn't thinking rationally, of course you should have stopped him from doing stupid and you failed your job if you couldn't stop him".

Or what about if he made something worse, or worst case scenario, got hurt himself and took up valuble resources.

 

[bignateyk]

Pinellas Park Police say they have enough to charge Jensen with obstruction but Captain Forseth said they are not going to do that.

LOL. And now they are trying to threaten him into not suing the department. What could they possibly have to charge him with obstruction?

 

[tokie]

Ban tasers. They have no place in modern society. They are meant to be used as replacements for guns, not nightsticks.

We also need to stop hiring high-school dropouts (GEDs) as cops. These assholes have a huge superiority complex.

 

[KIAman]

Pinellas Park Police say they tazered Jensen after exhausting all their options.

So taking away the hose and pushing the guy around is exhausting all their options? Where was the warning "Please move away, SIR or we will taze you?" Where is the respect?

Or how about instead of pushing the guy around like a jerk, forcibly escort him to a squad car? Was the guy resisting? Was he a danger to the police?

This guy will win the civil case. All the attorneys have to do is to have police define "exhaust all options" and match it with reality.

 

[mcveigh]

if the guy had died from smoke inhalation or something related to the fire the headlines would be about the cops doing nothing but standing around watching that guy die. where they could have saved him

 

[bignateyk]

if the guy had died from smoke inhalation or something related to the fire the headlines would be about the cops doing nothing but standing around watching that guy die. where they could have saved him

Noone is blaming them for making an effort. Once they tried several times they should have just let it go.