OZARK, Mo. — A family from Branson wants answers about what happened to their son that left him hospitalized. Early Saturday morning, police found Mace Hutchinson, 16, underneath the Highway F overpass over U.S. 65. Mace ended up in intensive care at a hospital. His parents believe the actions of Ozark police officers contributed to his injuries and slowed doctors’ abilities to speed his recovery. “We called the police. My wife was afraid he was going to get ran over or hit,” said witness Doug Messersmith. Messersmith and his wife were the last known people to see 16-year-old boy walking, shortly before their phone call to 911.
“He looked a little agitated but, other than that, he didn’t look to be falling down drunk or anything like that,” he said. By the time officers arrived, the teen was off the 30-foot overpass, lying on the shoulder below along U.S. 65, with no good explanation as to how he got there. “According to the doctors, all injuries are consistent with a fall,” said his aunt, Samantha. “They tested his system. He was clean of drugs and alcohol. We don’t know why unless just being in shock and the whole thing in itself caused him to forget everything,” said Hutchinson. While he was lying on the ground, she wonders why Ozark police used an electric stun gun on him up to 19 times. “I’m not an officer, but i don’t see the reason for ‘Tasering’ somebody laying there with a broken back. I don’t consider that a threat,”
“The ‘Tasering’ increased his white blood cell count and caused him to have a temperature so they could not go into the operation.” “He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their Tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he’s also making statements such as, ‘Shoot cops, kill cops,’ things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers,” said Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset. “It’s a big concern for the officers to keep this guy out of traffic, to keep him from getting hurt,” said Rousset.
Right, how hard could it be to subdue a kid with a broken back. Instead of going into arrest mode, I would think they would be in “rescue” mode. There is something very strange about this story and I’m not buying it.
I am getting tired of reading stories like these. They simply cannot be true…. they are unbelievable, totally out of any form of human concept, civilized behavior and ‘serve and protect’. These stories are simply not done in real life. Period.
If you have law officers that behave this way…. I mean, where do you find this scum? The community hire the lowlife to protect? We rely upon the neanderthals to judge when to use enforcement, firearms and tasers… The situation is more for us ‘normal’ people to consider. How the hell did we allow this to happen????
Well at least I haven’t seen anyone call the idiot cops in this screw up “goons” or “thugs” which is good, because that’s what the cops WANT. Assholes like these cops were probably the high school wrestling team whipping boys for whom “thug” is a badge of honor. And it just makes the other cops want to circle the wagons. Call them what they are…a bunch of cowardly pussies. Don’t attack them…make fun of them. Mock them. It’s the only way you are going to get the decent cops on the force to turn on them.
Mr. Fusion – should be Mr. ConFusion. You restate quotes from non-witnesses as facts. Now you have him dressed up as a suicide victim. Where did you learn that fact, ConFusion? Is the addle-brained white-trash aunt (watch the video) your idea of the ultimate conduit of truth and knowledge? WOW You have no idea if he was “clean” unless you read the E.R. chart; it’s highly unlikely, given the circumstances. Do you just take the aunt’s statement as a fact and not wonder if she is biased? Go work in an ER as a volunteer one night. Almost every trauma has a component of stunning stupidity and extreme drug/ alcohol involvement. These people come in badly injured but are commonly extremely combative with people who are trying to help them. Even with all of their injuries, they are totally mindless of how much harm they are causing themselves and others – police, nurses, MDs, paramedics, chaplains and even family. Police and ER personnel have to deal with these crazies every night across the country. You didn’t hear what the police had to say – only the part that was edited by the local infotainment station to create a ‘buzz’ Don’t you get that? Why are you so eager to bash the police on the basis of almost no real knowledge whatsoever about what actually happened to this poor kid? Get educated. Learn to seek out both sides of the story. Don’t try to make every story fit your politics by suspending your thinking capacity.
#24 for the win!
“Go work in an ER as a volunteer one night. Almost every trauma has a component of stunning stupidity and extreme drug/ alcohol involvement. These people come in badly injured but are commonly extremely combative with people who are trying to help them.”
There are broken backs and then there are broken backs. We don’t know in this case. (Sorry. I could not view the video.) Without more info, there is no reason to suspect the police knew he was injured. What we DO know, according to the police themselves, is that he was lying on the ground and, other than some verbal assaults, was not trying to injure the cops or anyone else. Nor was he attempting to escape. Therefore, tasers seem to me to be excessive. There was a time when, in a situation like this, the cops would have called an ambulance (I speak from experience).
By the way, although the initial reports show he was drug and alcohol free, some of these toxicology results take several days to return.
Tasing someone 19 times is excessive. Tasing someone after a 30 foot fall 19 times is insane. I don’t care what they are saying. Delirious people say all sorts of things.
If your police department shows up guns drawn ready to shoot for a call like this there is a problem. They will eventually do something stupid and open your community up for a really expensive lawsuit. So the money for routine patrols and schools gets diverted to a settlement.
I think tazers a great idea as an alternative to using a firearm (not sure how it works in America, but in the UK, police only use a firearm if the police/public are in danger — so if someone is brandishing a knife, you can shoot ‘em, but if someone is refusing to stand up you use your billy club and muscle). What seems wrong is when police are using as a coercive/punitive tool. I mean, if a cop is too lazy/scared to do anything other than stand behind a weapon, maybe they should reconsider their career choice…
after 2 SHOTS FROM A taser…
call FOR BACKUP, AND grab YOUR GUN..
otherwise…
try TO FIGURE OUT WHATS GOING ON..
TRYING TO arrest someone, “JUST because” ISNT a reason.
COPS are not hired to THINK..
THATS for the judge to do..
#22, Moran
You restate quotes from non-witnesses as facts. Now you have him dressed up as a suicide victim.
Perhaps you could point out where I said he WAS A SUICIDE VICTIM.
Is the addle-brained white-trash aunt (watch the video) your idea of the ultimate conduit of truth and knowledge?
What the fuck is wrong with you? The Aunt spoke for the family and the kid and you relegate her as “white trash”??? What the fuck do you call the comment from the Police Captain? Fascist propaganda?
This is where contrary to your neutral claim, you have automatically sided with the very cops that tried to kill the kid.
You have no idea if he was “clean” unless you read the E.R. chart; it’s highly unlikely, given the circumstances.
You claim I have no “evidence” then you turn around and decide your belief he has drugs in him is more plausible. Why? Morans like you are so fixated on proving the cops are justified you will discount the truth and fabricate your own bullshit.
Do you just take the aunt’s statement as a fact and not wonder if she is biased?
Yes. Until more compelling or verified evidence is presented that contradicts her. It is accepted that her relationship makes her biased. The same as the Police Captain is understood to be biased. If her facts are incorrect then the police can repudiate her. They didn’t deny the kid was tazered.
Almost every trauma …
The key word there is “Almost”. FYI, My wife is the Supervisor of Nursing at our local Hospital. Most of their cases are for heart attacks and car accidents. People may be crazier in your neck of the woods.
Police and ER personnel have to deal with these crazies every night across the country.
I notice the sly insinuation, without the slightest bit of evidence, that the kid was on drugs. He wasn’t. Unless you can prove he was which would mean you have access to his medical records which would put you in violation of the law.
Not every person coming into an ER is on drugs. Most are just injured or sick.
You didn’t hear what the police had to say – only the part that was edited by the local infotainment station to create a ‘buzz’
Do you have any evidence that the TV station edited out any culpable statements by the police? They justified tazering the kid !!! Every TV station or newspaper in this country will take the word of the police over that of a civilian. It takes a lot of proof to get them to publish / broadcast police misdoings.
Why are you so eager to bash the police on the basis of almost no real knowledge whatsoever about what actually happened to this poor kid?
Because I accept the uncontested story. The police repeatedly tazered a kid with a broken back and heel. By your view, no one would be able to believe anything unless it came from the police.
So why are you so gung ho to ONLY believe the police story that he needed tazering?
Don’t try to make every story fit your politics by suspending your thinking capacity.
What the fuck? There is a story of a kid that fell / jumped / whatever from a bridge. His back and heel were broken and he was unable to stand. The police tazered him several times while he was unable to comply with their demands. The police did not offer any evidence they or the public were in any physical danger or that the kid was even under arrest. The tazering may have complicated his medical treatment.
Now, do you have anything to rebut those facts? Fuck you with “he probably” or “drugged up wackos” or “she looks like white trash” bullshit. That only shows you own myopic view.
I have only contempt for assholes like you that blame the victim.
#25, Meyers,
This just shows your ignorance. Very few patients in ER are combative. Those that are, are generally very injured and confused.
When ambulances bring in cases, they are usually restrained already for the patients own safety. If the police bring in a case the patient will already be restrained. If they are combative, they usually are seriously injured. There are exceptions, but exceptions are not the norm.
Go ahead, work in an ER and find out. Don’t just take my word for it. Of course I don’t know any hospitals that allow volunteers to work in an ER. Every one I am aware of use only trained professionals near patients.
Everyone brings their own experience and prejudices to these sensational reports. The facts takes a while to trickle in, but we’re off to the next one minute news segment by then. That’s why I stopped watching TV news. At some point it turned into entertainment and pandering to the viewers.
I was told that the peace officers were participating in a shock therapy experiment with the local hospital in rescue techniques. This particular experiment would be the application of electric impulses to the subject. The hope was that these electronic applications would cause the leg muscles to contract and enable the test subject to walk. Unfortunately this was not the expected outcome. Further tests will follow. This technology has the capability to free up emergency and security resources if injury victims have the ability to walk to the hospital on their own.
Please take away this leson: family members should not call the police about other family members. The rules are different and harsh when family reports family. Peole should understand they’ve asked for an armed response. It’s not their pastor or shrink or uncle or drinking buddy they’ve called. They’ve call Law Enforcement. Again, please think long and hard before you decide men and women with firearms need to referee whatever fine mess that took decades to for you to muck up now needs immediate resolution.
The Taser – the Cops TORTURE WEAPON OF CHOICE !!!
Bad cop… No doughnut!
Ozarks says it all
Here is the truth because a lot of you seem to have it all confused. The boy was seen on the bridge and it was unknown what he was doing there. A second call was received stating there was a boy on 65 on the shoulder. Cops arrive, two to be exact, and stated that the boy would not comply with their commands. The boy was tasered 19 times by only two tasers. Each time you pull the trigger it gives you a five second ride. So you do the math of how long all together he was tased. Then after the two cops got the boy “into custody” he was transported to the hospital. Just so you know the previous information I have given is factual based on the police report that I have seen myself. Also the tasers have a memory that can not be erased and they are downloaded onto a encrypted computer program which also can not be erased. This keeps the cops in check but in this case the cops will be checked and will pay for their wrongdoings. Just wanted to make sure everyone has the story straight. If you have any other questions let me know.