Police use Taser for first time to subdue man

1.30pm Saturday September 9, 2006

An Auckland labourer last night became the first person in New Zealand to be subdued by a Taser -- the 50,000 volt electrical charge gun used by police to incapacitate alleged offenders.

An officer used a Taser gun to disarm and arrest the 18-year-old man after police responded to two incidents in a Western Springs street about 8pm last night.

A police statement said the man suffered only minor lacerations from the probe contact and no injuries when he fell and was arrested.

He was examined by a doctor at the Auckland central police station.

The man was to appear in Auckland District Court charged with assault with a weapon, threatening to kill, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a knife.

A controversial 12-month Taser trial started on September 1 in Auckland and Wellington.

The small yellow gun fires two metal spurs which pierce clothing and skin.

Six-metre wires attached to the darts transmit five seconds of charge, temporarily paralysing the person shot.

Until last night's incident police had reported drawing Tasers four times as a deterrent and on each occasion the target surrendered without it being fired.

It was first pointed at an alleged offender in Orewa last Sunday morning when a 29-year-old man threatened to kill his mother and himself with a knife.

The man surrendered and was charged with threatening to cause injury.

In Auckland on Monday, two men fled from a burglary in Waitakere and were chased by police. When stopped, police saw one was armed with a long screwdriver.

They directed the Taser's laser beam at the man and he dropped the tool.

Wellington officers also used the threat of shock treatment to arrest a man threatening passers-by with a knife in central Wellington's Courtenay Place early on Wednesday.

Members of the armed offenders squad had access to the weapon during yesterday's tense hostage drama at Auckland's Paremoremo prison.

Police eventually stormed a store room to free a female prison officer who had been held by an inmate.

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Quite good, I thought, that they've been using it as a deterrent without actually firing it. Very responsible, good on you cops. Seeing the laser on your body would probably be pretty terrifying...