Mountain View Police Employ Stun Gun on Man with a Knife

A man from Pennsylvania was subdued with a stun gun by Mountain View police after threatening a San Jose comedian with a knife.

While the comedian declined to press charges, the 28-year-old suspect was taken to jail on charges that included delaying, resisting or obstructing an officer.

The incident itself occurred at a bar that was holding a comedy night. During the night the 29-year-old comedian was threatened by the knife suspect who subsequently became violent. At one stage during the performance the comedian is alleged to have said something that was considered inappropriate to the 28-year-old that involved having sex and a knife. The suspect then licked his knife.

After officers arrived on scene, witnesses were able to direct them to the man in question who was still in the area. Police were able to see the butt of the knife sticking out of the suspect’s pants; however, when they asked him to stop he began to walk away.

According to a police report the knife suspect reached for the knife. A pursuing officer then told the man that if he continued to reach for his knife he would soon be apprehended by a police stun gun. Disregarding the warning from the officer he continued to reach for his knife at which point he was shot in the back with the self defense tool.

In a situation such as this which involved a number of people at the comedy bar, it was vital that officers responded to the scene and the incident in a quick amount of time. By doing so, they were able to gain control of the situation and bring the suspect into police custody after he failed to listen to police warnings.

The employment of a gun could have been used in this situation as it involved a knife, but by doing so, officers posed the risk of harming others in the area. In order to eliminate these chances the use of a stun gun was chosen as the appropriate weapon choice.

Not only that, but by employing a self defense stunning device officers are in control of what they are using. Unlike a gun, once a non-lethal device has been employed officers can rest assured that it won’t cause any damage to the target, but merely subdues them giving police enough time to take them into police custody and away from the public.