Phillies Fan TASERED: Teenager SHOCKED On Field (VIDEO)

(AP) PHILADELPHIA — A police officer used a Taser gun to apprehend a fan who ran onto the field during a Phillies game Monday night, and the team and the police are investigating whether it was an appropriate use of force.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO)

The fan, wearing a baseball cap, red T-shirt and khaki shorts, hopped a fence and scurried around the outfield, eluding two security officers in the bottom of the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. One officer used a Taser and the fan went down in a heap. Several Phillies placed gloves over their faces and appeared to be stifling laughter at the wild scene.

Phillies spokeswomen Bonnie Clark said the police department is investigating the matter and discussing with the team whether using the stun gun was appropriate.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore told The Philadelphia Inquirer police internal affairs will open an investigation to determine if the firing "was proper use of the equipment."

Vanore was not made available to The Associated Press when a call was placed to the police department's public affairs office late Monday night.

The teams said it's the first time a Taser has been used by police to apprehend a spectator who ran onto the field.

The fan was 17-year-old male and he will be charged with criminal trespass and related offenses, the team said. The Phillies did not release his name because he is a juvenile.

Quick Poll

Using a Taser on an unruly fan...

Is completely unacceptable and has no place at a baseball game.

Is the only way to keep troublemakers in line.

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Comments

[imacmadman]

02:09 AM on 05/12/2010

Sports, violence, beer, fat people, public spectacle, I love America! No wonder we are the butt of jokes everywhere else around the world. We make ourselves look so ridiculous, the only thing missing is someone to send him to the lions. Everyone who carries a taser should be tasered at least once.

I'm disgusted...

[TheAlexShow]

09:47 PM on 05/11/2010

http://www.thealexshow.com/2010/05/11/it-could-be-worse-taser-or-tackles/
I'm debating what is better - Tasers or Tackles!

[shawmutt]

08:52 PM on 05/10/2010

Wow, what an openly biased "survey". The taser is of course not the "only way to keep troublemakers in line", but in this case it was certainly warranted. The taser is now the new symbol of the authority witch hunters on this site and others. Every time a video is released on the internet about someone being tased, people come out of the woodwork with the hyperboles of police brutality.

Anyone alive during the 60s and 70s can tell you plenty about real police brutality. We are becoming a nation of wussies.

[aweissnet]

05:14 PM on 05/06/2010

A country that loves rules and the people that follows them.

I really dislike when I see kids being spontaneous or playful being treated like criminals. Call me weird.

[Pansey]

12:42 PM on 05/06/2010

Well, that's one way to 'liven up' the game eh?

[WestCoastftw]

07:36 PM on 05/05/2010

Wow a cop overreacting, followed by idiot police commissioner defending the overreaction. Where have I seen this before.

Still giggled at the video though.

[GO-BAMA]

06:24 PM on 05/05/2010

Stupid? Yes. Excessive force? Probably. Entertaining? Of course.

[Taj Sandhu]

06:49 PM on 05/05/2010

lol true sauce

[me again]

07:11 PM on 05/05/2010

Bingo! Fanned!

[thinkforasecond]

03:07 PM on 05/05/2010

electro shock torture device

[qaan]

02:46 PM on 05/05/2010

Philly security probably mistook the kid for a Mets fan.

[Woodn88s]

12:24 PM on 05/05/2010

Folks, we're talking about a game here. Baseball is a game. It's fun, So a kid goofed off, punish him with a fine\, but risk his life? No, I don't think so.

[Totto]

01:53 PM on 05/05/2010

Thanks for some sanity.
Potentially lethal force used on an unarmed seventeen-year old in shorts?

[bkrider9]

11:31 PM on 05/05/2010

Yeah but he had big teeth.

[Arthur Brown]

09:16 AM on 05/05/2010

IF you run on the field, you should get tased....

One day somebody is gonna run on the field to hurt someone like the tennis star who got stabbed. It's 2010 people should know not to do stupid things. The officer did exactly what he was suppose to do. They should not be made to subjectively judge the intentions of a streaker. Tase them and protect everybody from the 1 in 1000 that don't have honest intentions.

[Cowoak]

02:26 PM on 05/05/2010

exactly

[stdeclan]

09:59 PM on 05/05/2010

This is the USA where stupid happens a million times a day. As I am sure you know. Stupid does not deserved to be treated as a potentially lethal crime, nor does it deserve to be dealt with by employing a potentially lethal weapon.

[rogius]

08:58 AM on 05/05/2010

Sure, the taser might have been a bit harsh. Better to simply unleash a pack of attack dogs after any fan on the field. At least at Phillies games...

[qaan]

08:35 AM on 05/05/2010

Kids these days have no respect for tradition. The Streaker Rule explicitly states that you can only run out on the field at sporting events if you are wearing nothing but footwear.

[me again]

08:26 AM on 05/05/2010

I can watch that video over and over and over again!

[Poppso]

07:37 AM on 05/05/2010

So many misinformed people. As a former pollice officer I can tell you that most departs have the taser right after open hand control on the use of for continuum. Its the same as pepper spray at most departments. So if the officer tells you to do something , lawful of course, and you dont do it. And then he tries to make you comply by chasing you or physically forcing you to do something and you still dont comply then he can taser you.

Its quite simple, do what they say and you wont get the taser/pepper spray. When I was working we didnt have taser's but we did have pepper spray. At the time pepper spray was right after verbal commands. So if I told you to do something, again lawful of course... ie put your hands on your head or behind your back or whatever and you didnt do it... welcome to the pepper spray.

This kid was an idiot and rather than risk injury fighting him, injury to him AND possibly the officer he got zapped.

[crowsnest]

07:56 AM on 05/05/2010

Good luck getting most people on here to understand that one. In their opinion he should have been allowed to run around as much as he liked and then when he got tired of his little game. Tell him he was a naughty boy and give him a big group hug and send him back to daddy. This is why we have kids running around with no respect for anybody not their parents, teachers or police officers.

[Woodn88s]

12:28 PM on 05/05/2010

wrong crow, he should have been tackled to the ground and thrown out of the game and fined (he no doubt was) How many men were chasing him? they would have caught him.
Instead they risked his life. maybe they should just execute him, would that make you happy, he didn't endanger anyone.

[Poppso]

08:50 AM on 05/05/2010

Also one more thing, did some quick research on the number of deaths compared to the number of times the taser is used and yes, I does kill so does pepper spray, wrestling with offenders and people die from heart attacks when they run (chase after suspects).. People in great health die from heart attacks when jogging so nothing is 100% safe.

From a few different web pages approx 1,000,000 police officers have been shot with the taser durring training exercises and about 200,000 offenders are shot annually with the taser. Deaths from the taser are at 351 from 2001 to 2008.

To me it doesnt seem to me to be as serious of a problem as some are making it out to be. So guessing conservative 2 million people shot with the taser from 2001 to 2008 and 351 people died. Hardly a gun.

[qaan]

02:34 PM on 05/05/2010

I bet a lot of those taser-related deaths included people who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, were in bad health, and/or had more done to them besides getting tased. The case in point is a healthy 17-year old who was fit enough to run around on a field eluding security and apparently he suffered no significant after effects since he stood up and walked off the field under his own power. This was a safe takedown and may act as a deterrent to other idiots who want to try such a stunt in the future.