By Helen Eckinger
Orlando Sentinel
Click here to watch video
EUSTIS, Fla. — A Eustis police officer was fired earlier this month after his supervisors discovered that he tased a 15-year-old while off duty at a party to demonstrate how the weapon worked.
Dan NeSmith, 22, was suspended from duty on September 22 and fired on October 18, according to Eustis Police Chief Fred Cobb. According to Cobb, NeSmith used his duty Taser’s drive stun function on Taylor Davis at a party at NeSmith’s Grand Island home on September 5th, and the minors, including Davis, were served alcohol at the party.
Cobb said that NeSmith had only been with the Eustis Police Department for 13 months, but that his supervisors had regularly noted that the rookie officer performed his duties with a maturity beyond his years.
“I was severely disappointed when I found he had not expressed the same judgment in his personal life,” Cobb said.
Cobb said that NeSmith will only face criminal charges if Davis’ parents, or the parents of the other 20 or so underage teenagers who were drinking at the party file complaints with the state attorney’s office, which they have not done.
Copyright 2008 Orlando Sentinel