Officer fell before shocking student with Taser
EUGENE, Ore. – A newly released police report is shedding light on what a Eugene police officer says happened before he fired a Taser at a Chinese student. | Read the full police report
Officer Jud Warden said in the report he was on the ground before he fired his Taser at the student.
The incident happened Sept. 22 when police responded to the student’s apartment thinking he was a trespasser.
Warden said he found the student inside a bedroom, according to the report. Warden then ordered the student to show his hands, which he did not do. That’s when Warden said he drew his Taser.
“He just leaned against the wall while now sitting and still had his hand hidden under the blanket,” Warden wrote. Police removed the student’s name from the report for privacy reasons.
“I attempted to pull the blanket off of (name removed),” Warden wrote. “When I did I got knocked to the ground onto my right side. I was tangled in the blanket and (name removed) legs. While I was on the ground (name removed) turned towards me. I thought (name removed) was coming at me to potentially hurt me and told him to get back. He continued towards me ignoring my commands to now get back. I stood quickly and deployed my Taser striking (name removed) on the right side of his chest.”
In the original report, it is not clear how Warden ended up on the ground. In a “supplemental report” written six days later, he wrote, “I don’t know if I tripped on (name removed) legs, the blankets, my own feet or slipped. I don’t know if (name removed) swept my feet with his legs. I know I was pulling (name removed) blanket back to see his hands and the next thing I know I am on the ground on my rightside.” | Read the supplemental report
The student was then taken into custody.
That’s when a second officer tried to interview the student in the bedroom and a second student also in the apartment. Officer Bill Barnes wrote neither one of them spoke English well enough to understand the officer’s statements.
One of the students indicated that the officers should look at documents on the floor of the bedroom. It was a rental agreement confirming the students were living there legally, according to Barnes’ report.
Barnes did not see any interaction between the student in the bedroom and Warden until moments before the Taser was fired, according to the report.
"I heard Ofc. Warden walking around, however, I could not clearly see him from my location," Barnes wrote. "After a few moments, I heard Ofc. Warden yelling 'show me your hands.' I heard Ofc. Warden say this several times. I did not hear any other voices. I then heard Ofc. Warden advised he would deploy his Taser if the subject(s) did not comply.
"At this point I heard what I believed to be a physical altercation between Ofc. Warden and a subject(s). I heard a loud thump, like objects striking the floor of the bedroom.
"I did now know who, or how many subjects, Ofc. Warden was confronting and was concerned for his safety. I took (name removed) by the arm and he quickly ascended the few remaining steps to Ofc. Warden's location.
"As I stepped into the doorway of bedroom containing Ofc. Warden, I observed one subject, later identified as (name removed) sitting upright on blanket, his lower torso was covered with another blanket. Ofc. Warden was near his feet and was attempting to stand up, as if he had just been on the floor. As Ofc. Warden stood up, he deployed his Taser, striking (name removed) in the upper right chest area."
Barnes was with the second student in the apartment when he heard Warden initially yell. That student was detained without incident, although Barnes wrote it appeared he did not clearly understand the officers' direction and was slow to comply.
The Eugene Police Department has launched an internal investigation of the incident. Eugene police auditor Mark Gissiner also has his own investigation.
