Stun Gun Ends Unsuccessful Attempt at Flight

In one of the more unusual stories involving a stun gun incident this week, a 27-year old Fort Wayne man attempted to make his escape when police came looking to arrest him. Wanted for several parole violations, criminal trespass, resisting law enforcement, and contempt of court charges, the man jumped from a second story window when he spotted warrant officers down below.

His brief attempt at unassisted flight ended abruptly when an officer discharged a stun gun dropping him into a mud puddle. The second officer at the scene retrieved the wanted man from the puddle, and immediately subdued and arrested him. Additional charges were filed after this incident and the man is being held without bail.

A commitment to Non-lethal options
Fort Wayne officers are regularly provided stun guns. The city committed last summer to purchasing an additional 50 weapons. This purchase will bring the total number of stun guns owned by the police department to 160. Money for the weapons came from the previously passed Federal stimulus package.

Fort Wayne has a long-standing commitment to the use of stun guns. A program initiated in 2006 was designed to determine the efficacy of such weapons as an alternative to firearms in specific situations. After a successful integration period, stun guns were issued to trained personnel.

Decreasing the Odds of a Deadly Confrontation
When the only choice officers had in the line of duty was a service revolver, detaining a suspect was much more difficult. Rather than risking the possibility of killing someone, many times police allowed a suspect to get away in the hopes of later detention. With stun guns, officers can disable an opponent in a non-lethal manner.

This was clearly a situation that required the use of a stun gun to subdue a suspect who had already escaped a number of times. The officers quickly captured the man with no risk to themselves or bystanders and took him back to prison, where he awaits trial.