Massey was pulled over Sept. 14 by Gardner on U.S. 40 outside Vernal on suspicion of speeding in a construction zone. During the emotionally charged encounter, Massey can be heard refusing to sign the speeding citation and arguing with Gardner about whether he was actually speeding.

"If you were able to look in his eyes and feel the body language, we thought, 'Geez, this guy is really mad over a speeding ticket,'" Massey said on Wednesday.

After Massey's repeated refusals to sign the citation unless he was allowed to show Gardner a nearby speed limit sign, the trooper ordered him out of his SUV.

"I get out of the car thinking he's going to actually let me see the signs. That was the impression I had," Massey said. "I'm walking back pointing at those signs and out of the corner of my eye I see him pointing a gun at me."

Gardner hadn't pulled his gun but had pulled his Taser, which he fired into Massey's back after Massey failed to comply with three additional commands to "turn around." On the video, Massey responds to the 50,000-volt shock by stiffening up and falling backward, cutting his head open on the highway.

"I'm laying on the ground thinking I'm dying," Massey said. "I can't put into words how horrifying that is."

Gardner gave Massey a second shock with the Taser when he did not immediately turn onto his stomach. He also can be heard on an unedited version of the video, provided to the Deseret Morning News by Massey, making an apparent threat to use the weapon again after Massey makes repeated demands that Gardner read him his Miranda rights.

"Do you want another hit with this," the trooper asks.

"No. I want you to read me my rights," Massey replies.

"I want you to follow my instructions and do as you're told," Gardner says.

Massey and his wife are still deciding whether they'll file a lawsuit against Gardner and the highway patrol. "We're looking at options — how can we solve this problem, how can we protect this from happening to someone else again — if it takes a lawsuit then I guess it does," he said. "We haven't made up our minds."

Roden said the public response to the video has been overwhelming.

"We're not actually taking a number, but we've received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls," he said.

Gardner remains on duty, and Roden said he is not aware of any past use of force complaints against the 14-year UHP veteran. The UHP's internal investigation has been expedited since the posting to the dash cam video on YouTube and is expected to be completed early next week.

For Massey, the media spotlight he and his family have been in for the past two days has not been enjoyable at all.

"Telling the story this week and publishing it has brought back horrific memories," he said. "I still don't like people knowing that this happened to me. I could do without my name being out there, without the attention. It's nothing that's excited me."

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E-mail: geoff@ubstandard.com