Police used a taser to subdue a 50-year-old male suspect who allegedly pulled a knife while “violently” resisting arrest, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said in a news release.
The struggle broke out after officers were alerted to the presence of a stolen car and a man wanted in connection with the theft of the vehicle, as well as in relation to another matter, in the Belford Estates area of Bodden Town. The incident happened just after 10:40pm on 4 Sept.
Officers arrested the man for breach of a court order, possession of an offensive weapon and being in possession of the vehicle without authority, the news release said. He was also taken into custody on suspicion of resisting arrest.
Police said the man was taken to hospital for a check-up after complaining of pain and was later discharged into police custody.
The stolen vehicle was recovered by police. The matter remains under investigation, the RCIPS said.
The arrest comes days after Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton said he wanted to widen the issuing of tasers to officers after a spate of attacks on police.
He explained that firearms-qualified police were the only officers equipped with the electric stun guns at present, but that could change as early as next year.
Walton said, “I’m looking to see if it needs to be all officers or a number of officers on each shift.”
He added that he awaited a report on how many officers might need to be authorised to carry tasers before further steps were taken.
Walton said drastic action was required to take “a serious stance towards assaulting police officers” and bring the problem to “the forefront” because the public generally only heard about attacks on officers when people were charged and appeared in court.
He added, “We need to move away from this notion that it is part and parcel of the job and we have to accept it’s part of the job – that’s totally unacceptable.”
Related Videos
