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FOX 13 Investigates: Tasered 20 times
Last Edited: Monday, 05 Feb 2007, 11:01 PM EST
Created: Monday, 05 Feb 2007, 11:01 PM EST
Chris Gorden says he got this injury to his eye from a Taser.
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SARASOTA - The Taser X-26 is a powerful weapon. When a tough talking guy won't comply, 50,000 volts quickly end the argument.

But there are cases that some call abuse.

At UCLA last year, campus police tasered a student four times. When the video hit the internet, it sparked protests and a national debate.

While that case got a lot of publicity, not much has been heard about an incident at New College - a small liberal arts school in Sarasota.

Chris Gorden, 22, had driven up from Key West to visit his girlfriend.

Campus police were called because Gordon was making a lot of noise and acting strangely. His behavior started after he took some hallucinogenic mushrooms and then went outside to wander around.

"Before I know it, there are people grabbing on me and pulling on me and I don't want them to be around me. I don't know what they're doing or who they are or what they want," Gorden recalled.

So Gorden struggled, and according to police reports, lashed out at officers who were trying to handcuff him. One officer was kicked in the groin; another officer injured his own shoulder.

Over the police radio, an 'officer down' call went out, and the situation escalated.

Sarasota police arrived and shot Gorden with a Taser X-26.

"I remember it was the most intense pain I've ever felt," said Gorden.

"The majority of the people when the Taser in employed - it's usually two, three, is max and they come into compliance," explained Sarasota Police Chief Peter Abbot.

But Abbott and his men say this was no ordinary situation. They claim 140 pound Gorden had superhuman strength that night, and they needed to use the Taser on him five more times while he was on the ground handcuffed.

"He was so strong and flexing so hard that I actually thought his bones were going to snap," said Officer Steven Breakstone.

Karin Clemmons, a reporter for the student newspaper, was there and took the only pictures that exist of the scene that night.

"I know the picture is blurry but I really wanted to capture the people that were around him," said Clemmons.

The pictures show Gorden, now strapped to a board ready to be loaded into an ambulance. Gorden says officers continued to taser him on the ride to the hospital.

Records show he was tasered at least 20 times before a sedative finally took effect.

Sarasota police maintain they did nothing wrong.

"I don't think they could have taken this person into custody with less use of force," said Abbot.

Andrea Mogensen was the public defender assigned to Gorden's case. He was charged with battery on law enforcement.

She says if the case had gone to trial, she would have put the actions of the officer on trial, but she did not get that opportunity.

Instead, the state offered Gorden a deal. His charge was dropped to a misdemeanor. If he completes probation, there will be no jail time and no conviction on his record.

Gorden took the deal, and the case ended.

Gorden and his family say they've tried repeatedly to file a police brutality complaint, but no one with the department would take their information.

Abbott told FOX 13 the family is free to file a complaint, but he sees no reason for an internal affairs investigation.

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But Abbott and his men say this was no ordinary situation. They claim 140 pound Gorden had superhuman strength that night, and they needed to use the Taser on him five more times while he was on the ground handcuffed.

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Actually, the question I asked myself of how it came to this, was referring to the fact that I didn't know why I was dying. I didn't feel like I was dying, and I couldn't think of a very good reason I was dying (except the drugs of course, but that wasn't a very good reason... I'll get to that soon enough). However, somehow I knew I was. Maybe it was the six cops in my hallway holding me down and yelling at me to stop resisting arrest.

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Z was transferred to a room with a direct view to the e.r. desk. At that point I was alone with Z. After a few minutes Z lunged for the door. She hit the bed rail with such force that the rail disengaged and swung down. Z began to fall forward off the bed. I was able to react in time and catch her by her shoulders before she fell from the bed. Z then began to fight wildly. It took 6 people including me to subdue Z. At that point Z was restrained to the bed.

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I2ancid said:

I overdosed on 5-meo-dipt and the way the cops handled me was the same fashion as a drunk idiot resisting arrest... with brutal force nd no compassion to my situation.. they fucked up my face and probably tasered me which is why I saw "the loop" an eternal place of suffering that lasts eternally.

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CUBErt said:

Yeah that makes perfect sense. For some reason this case just seemed too cliché, somethings off. But I could be wrong. It just seems like a recycled story about PCP or something

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But Abbott and his men say this was no ordinary situation. They claim 140 pound Gorden had superhuman strength that night, and they needed to use the Taser on him five more times while he was on the ground handcuffed.

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The pictures show Gorden, now strapped to a board ready to be loaded into an ambulance. Gorden says officers continued to taser him on the ride to the hospital.

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Records show he was tasered at least 20 times before a sedative finally took effect.

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One officer was kicked in the groin; another officer injured his own shoulder.

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