Friends say police blamed birthday boy after officer lost control of Taser
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EUGENE, Ore. - Friends and family showed up in court to support a man accused of resisting arrest and turning a police stun gun on an officer over the weekend.
Police say
Jessie Wright was leaving the Good Times bar after celebrating his 30th birthday
early Saturday morning when he thrust his finger in an officer's face.
Officers tried to arrest Wright but say he resisted and then grabbed a police Taser and used it on the officer.
Mark Rogers was with Wright during the incident. He said the police officer isn't accurately describing what happened.
"He is trying to mischaracterize to the press through the press release. He lost control of the weapon and was hit with it three times," Rogers said.
He doesn't think Wright resisted arrest. "If you were getting shocked or if anything hit you, it is a natural reaction to try and get it off of you," Rogers said. "He grabbed it and tried to pull it away."
KVAL News contacted the Eugene Police Department for more information about what happened but they refused an interview. A spokeswoman siad they did not want to make any more comments about the case or jeopardize the court process.
The friends who were with Wright that night said three officers were on top of him and that he simply pushed the Taser off of his back.
They said they warned officers wright was prone to seizures but that officers went ahead and shocked Wright with a Taser and sprayed him with pepper mace. ased and pepper sprayed him anyway.
"His head was hitting the asphalt. He was just very tense and everything was just shaking," said Anna Jackson, Wright's girlfriend. "I felt it was handeled unprofessionally. It made me feel extremely unsafe, and the fact that they are lying about the Taser I just don't understand."
Wright's mother didn't see the incident but was in court Monday. She spoke to KVAL News after the arraignment. Wright did not enter a plea to the charges against him.
"They did not believe that my son was having a seizure and said that people make it up all the time," Lorraine Mason said. "Well my son is prone to grand mal seizures. He could have died from this."
I know nothing of this particular case, but too many times I've seen videos of cops yelling "stop resisting!" while hitting and tazing people when they are already down and immobilized. Â I can't help but be skeptical of any charges of "resisting arrest".
And, according to these "friends" when Sad Sack attacked the police officer, the tazer, on its own initiative, jumped from the officer's holster and was trying to shoot the officer while Sad Sack stood there in wonderment. Â What a crock. Â I am against police brutality, but in this case I think the officer was correct and that the event properly could be called animal control.
I am so sick of these cops doing stupid things and then when get in trouble for it...they blame the people. This is just another instance where he made a fool of himself and now blames people. Get real folks!
I am so sick of these people doing stupid things and then when get in trouble for it...they blame the police.  If he was prone to seizures....then why was he drinking in the first place?????  If the people with him are such good friends and knew that he was prone to seizures...why would they help him drink.  When you have seizures...the doctor will tell you to avoid alcohol.  He should be on medicine if he has grand mal seizures.  The bottle tells you not to have alcohol.  This is just another instance where he made a fool of himself and now blames police.  I would get a new group of friends, some that care enough to make sure you don't drink.  Alcohol can turn anyone mild mannered person into a different person when abused.  Get real folks!  Want to bet they are just trying for a lawsuit against the city?Â
It's easy to read an article and make a rash judgment about everyone but the real truth is the police could have tried being peace officers and worked on de-escalating the situation instead of making it a power struggle. I'm sure they have all been trained to negotiate and calm a person down.
I agree 100%. I think we should take time to evaluate the role of the Police in our lives. They are tax funded public servants, in many places their cars even display the words "To Serve And Protect", and yet we must teach our children to avoid ANY interaction with them (even of a positive nature). These Officers attend mandatory negotiation, self defense, and weapons training (which we pay for) and yet they could not handle this situation? Consider this- imagine yourself and ANY three of your adult friends, male or female, tasked with either calming or restraining a (weaponless- according to all reports) drunken adult male of any size... Now imagine this man is hog-tied with his chest on the ground; why do you need the Taser? He was drunk- not high on PCP or Meth. I am not saying that either party is completely in the wrong here- just confused by the level of "Force" used by the police. If I fail to perform the duties of my job, in a way that utilizes the skills I have obtained through years of expensive training, I will be fired.
Remind me to never go to Good Times! They OVER serve the dude then call police- not cool. The bartender should know how to to de-escalate  a situation-NOT make it worse-same with the police. We don't have room in our jail for a guy like this-it is a waste of our tax monies! The police need better training.
The Register-Guard, on Feb. 24, Sgt. David Natt:
"Natt said police had no initial purpose or reason to engage Wright.
âIt was his tenacious efforts to interact with police that resulted in an extremely unsafe situation for the officers and for himself,â Natt said. âThe lesson here is that an act of resistance (to arrest) actually elevates the potential use of force to a very high level. (Wright) created a very dangerous situation that escalated very rapidly. It was unbelievably dangerous to himself.â
Electric Piggy
According to a police account, the incident unfolded shortly after 2 a.m. as an officer was conducting a sobriety check on a driver in the Good Times parking lot. Wright and another person interjected their displeasure toward the officer âharassingâ the driver being given the sobriety check, police said.
Wright ultimately left, but Good Times staff advised police that they planned to ask Wright and his friends to leave the tavern because of their level of intoxication, and asked police to stand by in case Wright was uncooperative, police said.
As an officer sought to assist an intoxicated woman who accepted an offer to have a cab called to take her home, Wright suddenly thrust his head into the officerâs patrol car and began yelling obscenities about the bar staff, police said. The officer requested back-up from two other nearby officers, and ordered Wright to leave the premises relating to the trespass order given by tavern staff, police said.
Wright appeared prepared to leave when he âaggressively thrust his finger within inches of one of the officerâs face,â according to a police report. Wright was placed in an arm-bar hold and was told he was under arrest, police said. Wright immediately began to resist, police said.
After multiple warnings, one of the officers sought to use his Taser stun gun on Wright, but one of the weaponâs probes did not make contact, making the deployment ineffective, police said. In the ensuing scuffle, Wright managed to grab the Taser and deploy it three times into the officerâs leg, police said.
Wright also grabbed at another officerâs duty belt, grabbing an ammunition magazine and nearly grabbing the officerâs pepper spray, police said.
Officers ultimately were able to deploy pepper spray on Wright, and he was taken into custody, police said. Once in custody, he kicked at officers, resulting in him being placed in a âflexible restraint deviceâ â a nylon strap that helps immobilize the legs, Natt said.
Natt said police had no initial purpose or reason to engage Wright.
Latest police statement:" Melinda McLaughlin, a Eugene police spokeswoman, said the department canât comment on specific allegations by Wrightâs friends. But she said officers were called to the bar because Wright was being ejected and that he initially was arrested for trespass, not for gesturing in an officerâs face as was reported previously."...but, the first police statement, on Saturday the 23rd said that they (the police) had no reason to engage with Jessie other than he kept "tenaciously" engaging with the officers...so which one is it?
Wasn't this the guy that went over to interfere with the officer who was arresting someone else?
Jessie is one of the kindest, gentlest people I have ever known and I have known him his entire life. Good luck to those quick to judge - you missed your time: The Salem Witch Trials.Â
And it's not Jessie "crying foul" - it's those of us who have the honor of knowing him.
Jessie, you are a good man. And Linda, thank you for sharing your experience knowing Jessie.ÂThe great part is: you get your day in court to share how otherwise, you are a total angel (victim)Â
(I somehow doubt it) I don't have any sort of problem like this. (by any stretch of the imagination)
I deal with these sorts of drunks all the time. Â "they are not prone to violence" like the commentor said below, except when they are drunk and angry and someone tries to tell them what to do. Â I know all about this sort of guy and so do the police. Â They have their evidence, you have yours and the jury will decide who the liar is and no "court of public (propaganda) opinion", like here matters one bit.Â
Then later you can say how your are a victim of the "police state" (we have a commentor here that all he says is that.  Where is that guy, we need his comment!)
I have known Jessie for 20 years. Â He's a good kid and not prone to violence. Â He was having a good time with friends and witnessed police harrassing a group of people earlier and made a comment to the police. Â He was leaving the bar and two steps away from getting in the vehicle when the cops approached him and threw him to the ground. Â The difference between a police officer and a public safety officer is a police officer throws them to the ground and arrests them when they have not done anything illegal (just made verbal comments to the cop) Â - a public safety officer would make sure he has a ride to get home safely. Â What has happened to public safety officers in Eugene? Â To much ego????
Hey  It is never the drunk dumb#@% fault.  Blame the cops, it covers  all.
Hahahahaha, the cop is trying to cover up the fact he is incompetent.Â
@Jerry I agree 100%, but I would add that I question whether his friends and family are all that bright as well.  If he's prone to seizures, he will be on medicine to control them.  Generally those drugs and alcohol are very dangerous to mix.  In other words, he should not have been drinking in the first place.  Still, just keeping ones nose to themselves and complying and this whole mess could have been avoided.
Seizure prone or not, this guy acted like a grade-A jerk, to the point where the workers at the bar needed to call police, and instead of complying with a legal request from the officer, continued to create the dangerous situation for himself. Â
Now he's crying foul about it, and predictably, his family and friends support him. Here's a clue for these people: keep Jessie away from drugs and alcohol, because he obviously can't handle himself when he is under the influence. Â
Kudos to EPD for getting this lunatic off of the streets.Â