By Nick Bonham
Pueblo Chieftain
PUEBLO, Colo. — An “out of control” 10-year-old foster child was shocked with a TASER and arrested by sheriff’s deputies Monday in Pueblo West.
Capt. Jeff Teschner, head of patrol at the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Department, said Wednesday that the deputies involved were justified in their use of force.
“They followed all policies and procedures. This was appropriate use of the TASER device,” Teschner said.
The boy did not sustain injuries in the 3:30 p.m. incident in the 300 block of West Morning Glory Drive, Teschner said.
Deputies Mark Myers and Randy Mondragon were sent to foster parent Daniel Biby’s home to help with an “out of control juvenile” who was reportedly destroying property. Mondragon said the boy had threatened Biby with a pipe and a stick, and had thrown a landscape timber at Biby.
Mondragon said that when deputies arrived, the boy ran away from them holding a 2-foot-long pipe.
“This lad, we have a long history of (him) running away. I don’t know what his entire psychological profile is, but obviously he has emotional distress,” Teschner said.
The boy ran to a neighbor’s yard where he cornered himself between a camper trailer, pontoon boat and a fence, Mondragon said.
The boy ignored a deputy’s commands to drop the pipe. “I’m not going to drop the pipe,” the boy is quoted as saying in a report.
Because he is a juvenile, the boy’s name was omitted from a copy of the incident report written by Mondragon and provided to The Chieftain.
Teschner said that because of the tight quarters the boy was in, stunning the child with a TASER was a more effective way of arresting the youth rather than using pepper spray.
“They couldn’t get close enough to deploy pepper spray without putting themselves in danger,” Teschner said.
Myers deployed the TASER at the boy, who then dropped the pipe, and Mondragon arrested the boy.
"(Biby) said nothing else seems to work with (the boy), so he is going to pursue charges against him,” the report said.
The boy was booked into Pueblo Youth Center on suspicion of menacing with a deadly weapon. Biby declined an interview.
Teschner said the department’s policy on TASERs is not age specific nor does it mention TASER use on juveniles.
“It’s important to use best judgment and consideration anytime you deploy these devices, whether it’s an old person or a young person. We followed all our policies and procedures, and I think in this particular instance, (the TASER) was used in an appropriate effect,” Teschner said.
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