Fla officer on leave after using stun gun on woman

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Thursday, October 2, 2014
VIDEO: Fla officer on leave after using stun gun on woman
A Florida police officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Florida police officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation after he fired a stun gun into a 62-year-old woman's back during an arrest in a Tallahassee neighborhood, police said.

Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo called a news conference early Wednesday to announce the investigation after authorities obtained a video capturing the Tuesday afternoon incident that was shot by a citizen on a nearby porch.

"Based on the video, I have enough concerns to call for an internal investigation," DeLeo said. "We will conduct a thorough investigation into this incident. We want to be transparent with the community by sharing what we can at this point, including the video."

According to police, the officers were responding to recent complaints from citizens about drug deals in the neighborhood. The woman, Viola Young, approached one of the police cars parked on the narrow street to inquire about one of the people - two women and a man - who had been arrested.

The officer standing outside the squad car advised the woman to stay back. Police said that's when Officer Terry Mahan approached Young and attempted to take her into custody.

In the video, Young appears to be walking away when the officer uses his stun gun, striking her in the back. She falls face-first to the ground. Officers surrounded her and eventually helped her to her feet and walked her to a squad car, the video shows. Police didn't release the name of the person who shot the video.

Police said Young was medically cleared by paramedics and taken to the Leon County Jail. It wasn't immediately known whether she has a lawyer or what she was charged with.