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FDLE looks into officer's use of Taser in hospital
Associated Press
Published March 10, 2005
ORLANDO - A police officer twice used a Taser stun device on a drug suspect who was restrained to a hospital bed because the man refused to give a urine sample, authorities said.
Antonio Wheeler, 18, was arrested Friday on a drug charge and taken to an emergency room after telling officers he had consumed cocaine, police said.
Florida Hospital officials wanted a urine sample. A police affidavit said Wheeler refused to provide a sample on his own, so workers tried to catheterize him to get one. Wheeler, though secured to a bed with handcuffs and straps, began thrashing around, the affidavit said.
At that point, police Officer Peter Linnenkamp reported, he jumped on Wheeler to restrain him. When Wheeler still refused to let the catheter be inserted, Linnenkamp said he twice used his Taser to shock Wheeler.
"After the second shock (Wheeler) stated he would urinate and calmed down enough to be given the portable urinal," Linnenkamp wrote.
At the request of police Chief Michael McCoy, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident. Linnenkamp has been relieved pending the outcome.
[Last modified March 10, 2005, 01:13:09]
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