MOUNT DORA, Fla. — A driver was Tased by a Mount Dora police officer during a traffic stop while still behind the wheel of a running car.
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9 Investigates has learned that is against department policy, but there was no investigation until our team started asking questions.
It happened around the same time a man had his head bashed against a window during a separate traffic stop last September.
READ: Investigation provides insight into Mount Dora police chief’s sudden resignation
As Channel 9 investigative reporter Daralene Jones found out, the man who was Tased in newly released video had to be rushed to an Orlando hospital because after he was Tased, he crashed his car.
In the body camera video, a man is heard screaming that he couldn’t move his legs. Within days of the traffic stop, the officer’s supervisor acknowledged that he violated department policy.
The deputy police chief and the police chief signed off on the report without initiating an internal investigation of the case.
On Thursday, Channel 9 found that’s all changed and the department will be investigating because we started asking questions.
The officer’s lieutenant wrote in a report that, while deploying a stun gun on someone in physical control of a moving vehicle is normally against Mount Dora Police Department policy, “I do believe that there was exigent circumstances involved in this case.”
The lieutenant signed off on it, along with Police Chief Brett Meade, who resigned last week effective this Friday.
The driver told police he was afraid because he was driving without a license. It turns out, he’s never had one. Prosecutors have dismissed that traffic case. He was charged with resisting arrest with violence, but prosecutors said there’s not enough evidence. He has pleaded not guilty for fleeing the scene of a crash and aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.
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