From Deseret News archives:

Taser victim says UHP is 'stonewalling'

He says agency has failed to act on his request to investigate

Published: Thursday, Nov. 22, 2007 12:09 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
ROOSEVELT — The decision to post a video of himself being shot with a Taser by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper on the Internet wasn't easy for Jared Massey, but he said Wednesday he felt it had to happen.

The motivation, according to the 28-year-old telephone company employee, was to have the UHP act on his 2-month-old request to have the incident investigated.

"There's been no response, no action, no notifying us 'Hey, we're looking at this,"' Massey said. "To us it seems like they're stonewalling it, trying to brush it under the rug so that nothing would happen.

"That's why we decided to take it to YouTube," Massey said of the edited 10-minute video clip captured by UHP trooper John Gardner's dashboard camera that documented Massey's arrest. "We thought it was kind of our civic duty to do this."

Story continues below
Massey said he and his wife were initially told by the secretary at the Vernal UHP office that they couldn't file a complaint against Gardner but eventually met with the trooper's supervisor just days after the incident. The couple has not yet returned the formal complaint form they were given, Massey said.

The Masseys, with the help of an attorney, also made a formal request for a copy of the video from Gardner's car; an audio copy of the trooper's radio traffic with dispatchers; and copies of any paperwork Gardner completed to document the incident.

So far, the couple said they have only received the video — which they had to have unscrambled by one of his co-workers to view — and the dispatch tape. The couple got a copy of Gardner's probable cause statement, which makes no mention of his use of a Taser, when they went to court. They said they have yet to receive the trooper's incident report. "They still haven't given us everything we've requested," Massey said.

Trooper Cameron Roden, a UHP spokesman, said Gardner did document his use of the Taser in his incident report.

"It's definitely in the report," Roden said. "In fact we have a separate Taser deployment form which is part of our form and he has filled it out."

Roden said the Masseys should have received a copy "as part of discovery." The highway patrol will not release the trooper's report on the incident to the public or the media though until an internal investigation is completed, Roden said.

Recent comments

I really think that this problem stems from the mormon faith, which...

Daniel | Jan. 11, 2008 at 11:04 p.m.

I agree totally with UNBELIEVABLE. What does Gardner expect. Your...

Anonymous | Dec. 2, 2007 at 6:37 p.m.

I agree 100%. The first time i saw the video i thought maybe massey...

Critch | Dec. 2, 2007 at 6:05 p.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

Gifts for gamers

There are some games I love not on your list. Arkham Asylum for one.

Daughter: Mitchell fed me my pet

Our parents made my brothers help kill and clean our rabbits before we ate...

Why would you keep it open? I would understand if there was a lot of amazing...

The government will run our health care well? Read Reader's Digest, November...

BCS stable at top, Y. up to 14

TCU stomped on the MWC so they are naturally ready to crush Florida, Alabama...

Jazz win 6th in 7 games

could you understand Dave Locke any more than my mom does and she is not even...

Notre Dame fires Weis

Attending the ND/BYU game 3 years ago in south bend, a couple of things stuck...

I missed the game, actually i heard a little bit of Locke on the radio (man...

Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal

quotes were good: Article was dumb and unnecessary.

Understanding translation process

I believe the art depicting Joseph looking at the plates may possibly be...

Advertisements