Officer Forced To Use Taser On Man Trying To Save Pet Snakes From Burning Home

[strikerratt]

NORTH BELLE VERNON, Pa. -- Firefighters learned that 11 exotic snakes were inside one of the two homes that caught fire in North Belle Vernon on Monday.
Monica Baker, who is 8 weeks pregnant with triplets, and her two children were able to escape when flames from their next door neighbor’s home spread to their home on Green Street.
Monica’s husband, Damon Baker, desperately battled the fast-moving flames with his garden hose before firefighters arrived.
“I was outside, at the end of the garden hose, trying to spray down the side of the house to keep it from spreading so rapidly,” said Baker.
Police on scene said they tried three times to get him away from the fire to protect him, but he resisted so they were forced to subdue him with a Taser.
"Had I been able to stay there a few minutes spraying it down before the fire department got here, we might not have lost all of our animals,” said Baker.
The animals, firefighters learned, were 11 Ball Pythons that escaped from their cage and were loose inside the burning home.
“This is the first time we’ve really had to bring snakes out of a structure like that,” said Chief Ken Ramsdell of the North Bell Vernon Fire Department. “Sometimes it’s good to know if people have exotic animals.”
Baker told Channel 4 Action News reporter Keith Jones that only 5 of the snakes survived the fire.
Police said Baker will not be charged with any crime following the Taser incident.Officer Forced To Use Taser On Man Trying To Save Pet Snakes From Burning Home - News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[nitram]

i dont get it... people should be allowed to risk their lives to save whats important to them? am i wrong? glad he made out with 5 though.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Special K]

Yeah, this didn't make a whole lot of sense to me...

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[John_White]

A person watching their home, possessions and animals going up in flames is probably not thinking or acting rationally. The police most likely saved his life by intervening.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[SUAD]

I don't think the cop needed a taser to restrain a man, personally. This whole thing is a bit of a slippery slope where the cop is sort of darned if he did and darned if he didn't. On the flip side- is it against the law to act "irrationally" to save your pets?

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[John_White]

I don't see it as a slippery slope. The police took the actions necessary (using the taser may of been a bit much, but since none of us was present we can't make that judgement) to protect the owner, police officers and firefighters from a potentially deadly situation. Irrational behavior isn't illegal until it places human life at imminent risk.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Caligula13]

don't tase me bro

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[John_White]

For you my friend we would need:

The "L A S E R"

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[SUAD]

Originally Posted by John_White

I don't see it as a slippery slope. The police took the actions necessary (using the taser may of been a bit much, but since none of us was present we can't make that judgement) to protect the owner, police officers and firefighters from a potentially deadly situation. Irrational behavior isn't illegal until it places human life at imminent risk.

Yeah - well, if it's your own life, I don't see how it's anyone else's responsibility to think or make decisions on your behalf, particularly a government sponsered stranger. But that's just me...in the same light that we cannot judge if the taser were a bit much because we weren't present, we also can't really say that there was a huge risk to the police and firefighters (more so than normal, I mean) for the same reasons. Hence - the foundation for a slippery slope.

Having said that- I do believe to a degree that your opinion here has some merit, for sure. Police have a job to do and whether I like it or not, they're put in place to (hopefully) make good decisions to *protect* denizens of society.

Tasers, however, are made for protecting yourself from an attack, not for trying to instill rational thought to a man who's watching his belongings and animals (even if they were ball pythons :P ) go up in flames. I wouldn't be surprised if the station got sued. Heck, I'm surprised he didn't get decked....then he'd have a legit excuse for using a taser.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[morti]

As you said, we were not there. It is entirely possible that, in his fit of irrationality, the man was becoming belligerent in his attempts to enter his home, and the officer involved, not wanting to press charges, reported "Just the Facts" without getting into the details.

I know a few officers, and they treat the taser as a weapon of Next-to-Last resort (with the sidearm being the last resort).

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[John_White]

Originally Posted by SUAD

Tasers, however, are made for protecting yourself from an attack, not for trying to instill rational thought to a man who's watching his belongings and animals (even if they were ball pythons :P ) go up in flames. I wouldn't be surprised if the station got sued. Heck, I'm surprised he didn't get decked....then he'd have a legit excuse for using a taser.

The taser was used after the person failed multiple times to respond to rational commands. I would not be surprised if the owner thanked the officers for potentially saving his life after he became irrational.

I think a tasing is probably better than a punch for all involved. It's my understanding that the vast majority of people tased experience no lasting effects. Also if a single shock isn't sufficient, additional shocks can be administered. A punch to the face in my opinion has the potential to cause prolonged (if not lifelong) damage to eyes, jaw, nose, neck, etc. and places the officer at risk for retaliation.

I think our differences in opinion are due to our different views on police. I see them as the "good guys" and for whatever reason(s) you view them as something less?

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[SUAD]

I don't see police as bad guys at all, in fact, I know a LOT of them here. The fact that I know a LOT of them lends to the fact that I know that they're also not able to be painted with one brush of "all good" or "all bad" - it just isn't true or possible, and to think so is naive (not that I'm calling anyone naive here). I've known some VERY good, very true and honorable police men and women who I am proud to have on our police force, and would trust with my life or my families lives any day.

Having said that - I've also known and met (both outside of the job and while they're on the job) some worthless pieces of trash who have no business whatsoever being on the police force or working with the state troopers/dea/gang units/etc. Men who treat the force like a gang or abuse their power ridiculously or cross the line of ethics constantly without a second thought. I've seen police beat up those in custody because of their skin color, I've seen officers use and abuse drugs that they confiscate from "criminals", and I've seen them align themselves with organizations like the KKK and neo-nazi skinheads, men who throw out the "n" word incessantly and brag about hurting minorities (and suspects in general, regardless of skin color in some cases) on purpose. There honestly was a time in my life when I thought ALL police were good and honest, kind people like we're all taught to belive when we're children. And yes - I know someone's going to make the "well, a few bad apples, etc" observation....unfortunately, I've met a LOT of bad cops, and almost ALL of them will bend minor rules/laws that they give out tickets for on a daily basis. I just was very disappointed to learn of all the negativity and hypocrisy that goes on with the police force, is all.

Bur I digress - back to the original topic... like Morti said - none of us were there, and the guy COULD very well thank the officer for tasing him. I'm definitely not saying either one of you gentlemen are "wrong", I just don't entirely trust police, their motives, or their version of events. They're skewed more than most people know or will admit. Police have an extremely hard and thankless job, but all too many leap on over to the "dark side" because of this fact (or because they're just born jerks/losers).

As per the Tasing vs. being punched comparison - that's a hard one for me, I'd honestly prefer to be punched. I've been both tased (once) and punched countless times - I don't get along with electricity well, lol.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Rachel SS]

My apartment building caught fire and I was on the third floor. This happened on New Years Eve of this year, and we got the dogs out but I couldn't find the cat. A police officer opened my apartment door and tried to grab me while I was looking for the cat... I couldn't even get all 20+ of my snakes out, but I PANICKED.

He was trying to save MY life. He didn't have to be up there trying to grab me and drag me out (luckily he saw the cat and grabbed her himself and walked her down with me, while holding my arm).

The officers did the right thing. Tasering the guy might be a little over the top but they saved him from serious lung damage from the smoke and potentially saved his life.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[John_White]

Originally Posted by SUAD

I've been both tased (once) and punched countless times ..

I think the below photo serves as a good example of the actual damage and disfigurement that can be caused by being punched in the face countless times.


Well I guess at least you have an excuse. I was simply born with a face that looks as if it had been punched countless times.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[nitram]

i dont agree with it. we should have the right to risk our lives (or die!) for whatever seems important enough to us. no one should be able to determine if this is irrational or not...

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Sakara]

I don't think he should have been tased.....

It doesn't say he was trying to enter the building... He was spraying a water hose at the flames...

Either way though... Unless I'm knocked out, I'm still going to be doing anything I can to save my family and pets in the event of something like that... I actually had this conversation with a couple friends the other day... that if my hosue was ever on fire, the first thing is us and the kids, next, making sure all the animals get outside... I don't care if I have to chase them down later, they will get out... and then my hard drive with all our pics of everything and folder of important papers... Material items can be replaced, but our lives and our pets lives are the most important things in the house and if we can get the other important docs, those too...

I'm glad some of the snakes made it though...

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Stargazer]

Seriously, did this guy think he'd have time to run into a burning house and find 11 ball pythons who were loose in the house? For most people, it takes months to find an escaped snake. I don't even wanna know how 11 snakes all escaped from their "cage" in the first place. Or if they were all in one cage.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[HERPHAPPY]

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Seriously, did this guy think he'd have time to run into a burning house and find 11 ball pythons who were loose in the house? For most people, it takes months to find an escaped snake. I don't even wanna know how 11 snakes all escaped from their "cage" in the first place. Or if they were all in one cage.

I was kinda wondering the same thing...11 loose snakes?

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[HERPHAPPY]

Originally Posted by nitram

i dont agree with it. we should have the right to risk our lives (or die!) for whatever seems important enough to us. no one should be able to determine if this is irrational or not...

While I agree with you, the problem is there is no time during an emergency to sign a waiver, which in this litigious society is probably what they'd need to let you proceed? Otherwise some fool would turn around and sue them when they get hurt, or their family would sue when someone got killed taking the risk like the professionals do!

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[nitram]

Originally Posted by HERPHAPPY

While I agree with you, the problem is there is no time during an emergency to sign a waiver, which in this litigious society is probably what they'd need to let you proceed? Otherwise some fool would turn around and sue them when they get hurt, or their family would sue when someone got killed taking the risk like the professionals do!

i suppose you're right. kinda sucks everything is about rules and lawsuits and blah blah blah

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters