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Martha Dennis
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a man that occurred two weeks after Soddy-Daisy police used a Taser on him.
Roger Redden, 52, died Jan. 22.
According to a police report obtained by the Times Free Press, Soddy-Daisy police used a Taser on Mr. Redden on Jan. 4 when they were called to his house and he became combative and appeared to be on narcotics.
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Staff Photo by Nathan Gayle
The Hamilton County Sheriff Office is investigating a Taser incident involving the Soddy-Daisy police department and a man who died about three weeks after being Tased.
Police were called to a Dayton Pike residence after a report of a man causing a disturbance and “throwing things around the house,” the report states.
Mr. Redden was shot with a Taser in the left leg, left arm and upper chest areas “to gain pain compliance” after a continuous struggle, the report states. According to police, he remained combative but calmed down somewhat after two medications were administered by EMS personnel.
But friends who saw Mr. Redden in the hospital said they believe officers used the stun gun on him eight to 10 times.
“Even if the autopsy should read that he died of natural causes or what, the boy was still abused by the Soddy-Daisy police,” said longtime friend Martha Dennis, a Hixson resident who was not at Mr. Redden’s home the night of the incident.
“I would like to see justice done,” she said.
After he was stunned, Mr. Redden went into a coma and never recovered, Ms. Dennis said. She and other friends and family members are awaiting the autopsy report.
Soddy-Daisy Chief of Police Phillip Hamrick declined comment on specifics of the incident, saying it is part of an ongoing investigation.
Because Mr. Redden’s sister is a dispatcher for the Soddy-Daisy Police Department, and also because Mr. Redden had longtime connections to the town, the investigation was turned over to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Hamrick said.
“Just being family members and things like that, we felt it would be better handled by an outside agency,” he said. “And everybody’s been directed to cooperate with their investigation 100 percent.”
Results of the investigation are not yet available, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.
“The only involvement we have with that is they requested our internal affairs division to look into it,” sheriff’s office spokeswoman Janice Atkinson said. “It’s still not completed.”
The Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office passed the autopsy investigation to an office in Knoxville. Personnel at the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office said they were unsure on Wednesday which Knoxville agency now is handling the case.
Soddy-Daisy City Manager Janice Cagle said she was not sure when the department issued Tasers or when officers were trained in their use.
The Soddy-Daisy Police Department has been in the news this week because an officer released Mayor Gene Shipley’s uncle, Bob Hargis, after a Jan. 1 DUI traffic stop. According to an arrest report, the officer did so because he feared for his job.
Moral of the story: "Don't do drugs"
i fought the law and the law won!
Previous comment is idiotic. The article doesn't list any toxicology reports of the autopsy nor any confirmation of illegal drugs found at the scene. Last time I checked, no where in the laws of Tennessee does it list any suspected drug usage as grounds to execute a citizen via repeated taser strikes. We have an execution system in place already in TN that doesn't involve amateurs with tasers.
If the guy was at his own residence and not harming anyone else then he has the right to throw things around his house all day long.
The article and police only state "appeared to be on narcotics". That is zero confirmation of any illegal drug usage. The article doesn't mention any charges for possession of illegal substances.
Real moral of the story: "Tasers are lethal weapons especially when used repeatedly"
I don't want the previous commenter on any jury if the cops decide to abuse citizens with their tasers.
New moral of the story: "Survival of the fittest"
Here's an idea -- outlaw the use of Tasers altogether. Then when police must "gain compliance" with their lawful orders, the only non-lethal weapon they have is their club [assuming they even have them anymore].
So...a perp puts up a fight -- shoot 'em. End of story. Dead is dead, Taser or .45 ACP. Cop's judgment -- something we are paying him/her for -- goes out the window.
Or does the Taser start to look a leeetle bit better than a gun for those times when death is not the intended outcome? Taze 'em 'til they fall...that is a whole lot better than "Pull the trigger 'til it goes 'click'."
I say, "Good decision, officers. Tough one maybe, but a good one. You were there, we weren't."
In joshkotw's comment he said a person should be left alone if he is throwing and destroying things in his own house. Do you think maybe someelse in the house just might have called the police, or do you think they were just riding down the road and saw Mr Redden inside the house throwing things and said to each other, "Hey let's go fight this man and tase him." He also commented that the police said he only appeared to be on narcotics and there was no confirmation of this. My comment is that joshkotw should do police ride alongs or better yet, become a police officer. Go to your physician's office and get one of the history sheets they fill out on new patients. Then, when you get into a fight with someone because you will eventually will no matter how hard you try to avoid it, you can go down the list asking all the questions while you are fighting the person. You know the questions. Do you have this wrong with you? What kind of medications do you take? Do you have aids? Do you do drugs? If the answer is no and you suspect the person is on drugs, draw a vial of blood and send it off to be tested. Keep fighting the person until you get the report back and then, only then if the result is positive, tase the person.
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