That faith had allowed him to rationalize Runnelss actions, but there was no rationalizing what was on that recording. Witness video of Independence officer Tim Runnels arresting Bryce Masters following a traffic stop Sunday in Independence. Its really bad, she said. He would sleep for a bit, forget again, then look in the mirror. "These outages are minimal compared to what we saw today," Runnels said . Rick Guilbault, the former head of training at Taser International, testified on behalf of Runnels that his use of the Taser was consistent with common practice and training. When the grand jury returned an indictment against Runnels on March 26, 2015, the Masters finally got a bit more information about what happened on September 14. So Runnels grabbed him by the armsand pulled him, with the boys legs dragging on the ground between Runnels shuffling feet, toward the side of the road. I get a lot of sympathy from my black cop friends, like, this is what weve been saying about cops for a long, long time.'. The dashcam video, which has been sealed by the court, is definitive and ugly, and Runnelss actions are impossible to justify. Case Details Parties Documents Dockets Case Details Case Number: 19-2199 Filing Date: Timothy Runnels was sentenced to four years behind bars for the 2014 tas The new officer referred to Bryce, lying there stationary. Ending qualified immunity a doctrine established by the Supreme Court nearly 40 years ago has become a central goal of proponents of police reform in the wake of the murder of George Floyd a year ago by a Minneapolis police officer. Each time, Stacy and Matt tried to gently remind him that he had been injured by a police officer. The provider is registered as an individual and his NPI record was last . With the support of readers, we publicize our results through letters to the editor, press releases, and petitions. His short-term memory loss was severe, and it exacerbated his emotional instability. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. Runnels also was indicted on charges of depriving Masters of his civil rights under color of law and obstruction of justice. Federal prison records show he was released on Dec. 27, 2019. Call their office. Copyright 2023 It looked like he hit his head on the concrete. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? (Sept. 14, 2014) Later Wednesday, Masters family issued a statement thanking investigators, prosecutors and medical personnel who treated Masters. The past 20 months have been emotionally and physically exhausting, the statement said. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson of the Western District of Missouri announced that former Independence, Missouri, Police Officer Timothy Runnels was sentenced to 4 years in prison for violating the constitutional rights of a minor Assistant U.S. Attorney Ketchmark informed Matt that the policies and case law pertaining to Taser use routinely justified broad uses of the weapons uses that Matt now considered dangerous. The commutation comes after Morgan, a former Chicago police officer who was working as a railroad detective, was arrested in 2005 following a traffic violation for driving the wrong way on a one-way street near his home, the report says. A former Missouri police officer pleaded guilty on Friday to violating the constitutional rights of a 17-year-old motorist by deliberately dropping the restrained youth face-first on the ground after a traffic stop last year, federal prosecutors said. He had to serve time. Why dont cops know all this? Certainly some did, but for all the years Matt had carried a Taser, he didnt know. All rights reserved. Case Details Parties Documents Dockets Case Details Case Number: 19-2242 Former Officer Timothy Runnels was sentenced last week to four years in prison over the September 2014 incident. Gillihan claimed hed received a call about a suspicious car parked overnight, and he was waiting when Bryce walked outside. Yeah, they had a heart attack, but the Taser didnt cause it. And, when they do, theres someone on the receiving end of that., In his sons case, an officer is paying for his bad decision. While he was able to finish high school, he didnt have the motor skills for sports anymore, and his diminished ability to think critically made college unlikely. I havent done anything officer, Bryce yelled. Bryce tried to appreciate the moment, but he wasnt nave. In another incident, a police cruiser blocked him in; a few nights later he was pulled over. Youwere are the greatest. As he looked Bryce over, Matt casually floated his positional asphyxia theory. But after his interaction with Runnels, his friendships faded as his classmates realized how emotionally unpredictable hed become. The 8th U.S. The officers found half a joint but let them go. The truth is, Funnels should have been charged with attempted murder. Why risk getting hurt? The video opened with a shot from the dashcam of Runnelss cruiser, the road rolling by, trees and sidewalks passing on both sides. share. Independence, Missouri - Video released on Monday shows a new view of the moment a police officer used a taser on a teenager. Wake up, guy, the officer said. Our law has been submitted as a Resolution to the NAACP. Everything Taser told them.. His fingers and toes were curled inward, and his arms bent at near 90-degree angles toward his chest. A snapping thud filled the room the sound of Bryces 175-pound frame hitting the pavement as his teeth crashed together and his jaw dislocated. More importantly, if there was no warrant associated with Bryce or his car, why was he stopped in the first place? 83 comments. Bryce wasnt fighting anybody.. Minutes later, Curtis called Matt again. He would feel his mouth and turn to his parents. Lonnie Ali at her husbands funeral: America must never forget that when police and young black boys speak, great things can happen.. Today, he sees law enforcement through the eyes of a victim. I dont know, she said. He retired as a reporter in December 2022 after a 37-year journalism career. Riveting article. What happened to my teeth? he asked repeatedly. One barb lodged in his chest and another in his abdomen. But there was no charge for the initial Taser deployment. Theyre working it backwards. Matts experience as a cop taught him that officers can sometimes write themselves out of trouble through exaggerated and self-serving reports. He wondered what he could repair, and if he was ever going to be the same. We didnt think death, Matt remembered. Other sources, such as an informal list known as Truth Not Tasers, put the figure at nearly 1,000. Timothy Runnels, 32, previously pleaded guilty. No one said anything about avoiding the chest, and this was five years after Taser International officially changed the target area and with an incident involving a local officers child providing a perfect example of what could happen. He was recording the interaction with his cellphone. Matt found it hard to believe the federal government, given the vague guidelines established for proper Taser use, and the broad authority officers had to use force, could make a charge stick. While we are pleased that Mr. Runnels was held accountable for his actions, no one really wins in this scenario. If you can watch, see for yourself: According to reports, Bryce Masters actually died from his injuriesand was lucky thatunlike those who responded to Eric Garner, his paramedics came prepared to do their jobs. Although the minor suffered cardiac arrest and facial injuries, he survived the incident due to timely medical treatment by medical personnel at the scene and at the hospital. He was completely immobilized, the ventilator still in place, but he was making eye contact with his mom and dad. Runnels faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for his conviction for violating the minor's civil rights. The more they discussed the question, the more sobering it became. Runnels ignored it. Cops do fuck up. While the majority of law enforcement safeguards our communities with fidelity, the department will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute officers who violate their oath by using excessive force., This former police officer was trained and entrusted to enforce the law impartially, said U.S. Attorney Dickinson. After excessively tazing a fellow cops underage son during a traffic stop and slamming the handcuffed teen face-first onto the street, an overzealous officer was recently sentenced to four years in prison for violating the minors civil rights. The cop put his foot on his back and moved it back and forth like he was putting a cigarette out and asked him, Are you ready to get up now? You could tell the kid was going into convulsions.. That same month, Matt went in for his annual in-service update an hourlong training session in which officers go over updated information about how to legally deploy police tactics, including the use of Tasers. His attorney, J.R. Hobbs, asked Whipple to place Runnels on probation. The agents arrived quickly and started taking pictures of Bryces mouth. He felt terrible for missing the game. 2. Kos Media, LLC. One punctured his chest, to the right of his midsection. Masters went into cardiac arrest after Runnels used a stun gun on him after the teen refused to get out of his car. More awesome news! You dont just get tased, Matt remembered thinking. I felt like he would have cared for an injured animal better.. The defendant abused his authority as a law enforcement officer by depriving a minor of his constitutional rights and causing bodily harm, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. He asked Masters to get out of the car, but the . Matt had heard that people sometimes died after a Taser shock, but chalked it up to a syndrome called excited delirium, which hed learned about in his Taser training. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Any positive reviews previously submitted about Dr. Timothy D Runnels, DC will appear here. Eventually, they asked him how Bryce was doing. By Wednesday morning, Independence police released Officer Runnels search warrant application, and the probable cause appeared to have changed. Last week we heard about former Independence, MO, police officer Timothy Runnels being sentenced to four years in a federal prison. In the video, Runnels pulls Bryce over and approaches the car. While he still values the profession, his newfound empathy made him more aware of the real damage some officers inflict. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. Finally, in 2009, Taser International released the bulletin suggesting that officers should avoid shooting suspects in the chest when possible. First responders revived him, but he suffered hypoxia or oxygen deficiency to the brain. You could see blood coming out of his mouth. Bryce Masters at his home on June 2, 2016. He politely let them know that Bryce was doing OK, leaving details unsaid. Runnels had resigned from the Kansas City department under threat of termination in 2010. Roughly every 30minutes that night, Bryce would forget what happened to him. A rare instance when a cop actually went to jail for excessive force. Dont use it on suspects who are just passively resisting. Timothy Runnels was arraigned Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Missouri, on two counts apiece of deprivation of civil rights and of obstruction of justice in connection with the Sept. 14 confrontation with 17-year-old Bryce Masters of Independence, a Kansas City suburb where Runnels worked. The jury. Mrs. Runnels had resided in Hudson most of her life. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. The practitioner's primary taxonomy code is 111N00000X with license number 9478 (TX). She told the sergeant she spoke to that the family believed the officers had conducted an illegal search and that they were considering filing a complaint. The catalyst for the crime was the 23-second Taser deployment straight into Bryce's chest. A former Independence police officer who injured a teen driver during a 2014 traffic stop was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison. Its sickening to me to listen to Taser even speak, Matt continues. Now, he sees a company with everything at stake trying to have it both ways: Tasers are safe for all sorts of encounters, but dont blame us when something goes wrong. The recent Tasering of then 17 year-old Bryce Masters by Missouri cop Timothy Runnels has sparked outrage in the community and around the world. Be careful shooting fleeing suspects. Holy fuck, let off the goddamn trigger!. First, according to Bryce, he and a friend named Curtis Martes were searched by two Independence officers, Travis Gillihan and Timothy Runnels. 71. . The Taser did this. Bryce was given simple tasks, things kindergartners could do, as he put it. Medical staff furiously worked around him. Matt Masters does not agree that the Taser use was reasonable, but he agrees it was common police practice. After misdiagnosing the cause of the problem, Matt Masters shared some more with us: After almost 20 years as a cop, it had become easy for Matt to split the world into good guys and bad guys. He hadnt seen most of them for a while, so they all made small talk. In addition to being a police officer, Martin also trained young boxers at a local gym. Our project forces those governors to out themselves, clapping them in a Catch 22. Runnels also was indicted on charges of depriving Masters of his civil rights under color of law and obstruction of justice. interacts online and researches product purchases Bryce has vague memories of that Wednesday night. The police kept referencing an outstanding warrant, but unless there was a ticket Mattdidnt know about, Bryces license was valid and his car had been registered to Matt and Stacy for over three years. As a police officer, his opinion about whether Tasers could kill mirrored the standard explanation he and his fellow officers had heard from the companys trainers, that Tasers causing cardiac arrest was just a tall tale concocted by attorneys and the media to disparage a useful police weapon. If thats my right, why would I let some cop try to take it away?, Matt felt betrayed. The video above shows Runnels approaching a pulled-over vehicle being driven by Bryce Masters, then 17, who was on his way to play video games with a friend. Today the video, which had never been played in any public setting, would be played in open court. I get a lot of sympathy from my black cop friends, like, this is what weve been saying about cops for a long, long time. They understood Tasers to be safe tools, but tools that were used on suspects who posed a threat to officers. Runnels kept the trigger engaged for about 20 seconds, the equivalent of four cycles of the Taser, even though had Masters complied with all of his commands until he fell unconscious. Someone is raped in Texas every hour. He wanted the judge to know he was a good person, a strong person, and despite all hed been through, determined to make the most out of his life. I cant tell you what is on there, Stacy remembered one agent telling them. Stacy and Matt cried as Bryce fought. (A member of Runnelss defense team, asked for comment, said he had no information about his clients departurefrom the Kansas City Police Department. I dont understand, when you watch that video, how you could treat anybodys kid that way.. Mostly Bryce struggled because he couldnt rely on his own memory of the incident. Miami Trace High School recently released the second nine weeks honor roll and honorable mention. Today, he sees law enforcement through the eyes of a victim. His colleagues chuckled as suspects screamed and cops stood heroically at a distance, pumping them with electricity. Weve all been duped. Runnels may have been a bad cop, but if he hadnt been given a device that Taser International had assured him was extremely unlikely to kill, then he might not have been tempted to shock a teenager who simply wanted to know why he was being arrested. Timothy Runnels, a 32-year-old former Independence, Missouri, police officer, sat at a large, rectangular defense table inside Courtroom 8B at the Charles Evans Whittaker Federal Courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, late last month. The video above shows Runnels approaching a pulled-over vehicle being driven by Bryce Masters, then 17, who was on his way to play video games with a friend. Our Law Enforcement Documentation Act of 2016. Warning: This video contains graphic scenes of police violence. Timothy Runnels, a 32-year-old former Independence, Missouri, police officer, sat at a large, rectangular defense table inside Courtroom 8B at the Charles Evans Whittaker Federal Courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, late last month. It is not recognized by the American Medical Association or the American Psychological Association, nor is itlisted in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Timothy Runnels's passing at the age of 58 on Monday, June 13, 2022 has been publicly announced by Samaritan Affordable Funeral and Cremation Services - Terre Haute in Terre Haute, IN.According to the They took statements from both Stacy and Matt and started taking pictures of Bryce. Am I under arrest? Yet the FBI and the U.S. attorneys office assured the Masters that the dashboard recordingwas definitive. Please Join us. Lets not wait until you or your family members are the victims before you join the fight. Five years later on September 14, 2014 it would be difficult to argue that Runnels was unable to avoid shooting Bryce in the chest. Bryce refused. A measure of. The story became notorious among Kansas City cops. Ebola has killed about 9000 people in total; Republican governors kill 23,000 people PER YEARby refusing federal support for Medicaid, a story ignored by traditional media. To take it away?, Matt casually floated his positional asphyxia theory Stacy remembered one agent telling.. His attorney, J.R. Hobbs, asked Whipple to place Runnels on probation, 2016 if was! Recordingwas definitive to justify, leaving details unsaid sees law enforcement through the eyes of a victim in addition being... 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