The Associated Press
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A police officer has quit after an internal investigation found he lied about using a Taser on a handcuffed man in a holding cell.
Boynton Beach Officer David Silverman, 38, was arrested and resigned in October after officials saw a video of him using the Taser, which fires electric darts that emit a 50,000-volt shock, on detainee Christopher Mroczko.
Silverman arrested Mroczko on Aug. 26 because he had an outstanding arrest warrant. A video shows Mroczko kicking and yelling toward the cell door. But after he sat down, Silverman walked in and fired the Taser.
Silverman told his supervisors a different story, records show. He said he ordered Mroczko to stop kicking the cell door and sit down, but that Mroczko stood his ground and threatened him.
“So I convinced him with a drive stun technique with my trusty M26 Taser,” Silverman wrote. After receiving the jolt, Mroczko complied and sat down, Silverman said.
The Taser strike was illegal and so was the incorrect account of the incident in a public record, officials said. He resigned Oct. 21.
Silverman was charged with misdemeanor battery and falsifying a public record. But a plea deal calls for the charges to be dropped if he isn’t arrested and performs community service in the next six months. Silverman also had to turn in his state law-enforcement certification.