ORLANDO, Fla. — An Osceola County deputy accused of causing a large fire during an arrest took the stand Thursday in his own defense.
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Deputy David Crawford is accused of firing his Taser at a reckless driving suspect.
He is facing a charge of negligence.
The deputy said what happened that day was not his fault.
Crawford told the jury he never tried to tase the suspect; he was throwing the Taser away from the suspect because it was dropped by another deputy.
The deputy that actually fired the Taser not once but twice.
Crawford told the jury it was not his actions that started the fire, evident by the fact that the Taser was under a car and not even scorched in those flames.
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Crawford was confident in his answers to the jury.
Saying that he followed policy when he approached a man who could have possibly had a gun and tackled him off his motorcycle.
That is when the gas spilled out of the open gas tank, and Jean Baretto was filling it up.
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Crawford said the fire was not started by him, in fact he was a surprised as anyone when the fire ignited burning him too.
In fact, he claimed he would do it all over again the same way because that is how his train worked.
Channel 9 has a crew inside of the courtroom and will provide updates on Eyewitness News.
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