A 61-year old man in South Carolina died this week after police used a stun gun on him while he was riding his bike. Scotland County Police Chief Joe Williams was trying to explain away the situation, but it has left the community angry that police would use a stun gun on a man with a bike. To make matters even worse, Roger Anthony, the victim, is also disabled.
Police say that they were concerned that Anthony was drunk after they received a call about a man who fell off a bike and hurt himself in a bank parking lot. Officer John Turner said he saw Anthony riding away and followed him in his patrol car. Anthony kept pedaling, even as Turner asked him to stop.
Turner says that he then saw Anthony take something out of his pocket and put it into his mouth. That's when the officer yelled for him to stop and when he did not, the officer used his stun gun to knock Anthony off his bike.
After the incident, Anthony was transferred to Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he was announced brain dead. His sister, Gladys Freeman, said he was taken off life support on Tuesday.
Freeman said that her bother was disabled, had regular seizures and had trouble hearing. The officer has been on the police force for just a month and has been placed on administrative leave. The mayor of the town is calling for an investigation by the state and admits that Anthony was not a threat to the officer.
"Why would you use a stun gun on a man with a bike? He didn't do any crime. He wasn't trying to escape. How was he going to escape on his bicycle?" asked Milton Freeman, Anthony's brother-in-law.
Investigators are asking those questions now.
