After using a stun gun to neutralize a 91-year-old man suffering from dementia, a Punta Gorda police officer is under internal investigation, WINK-TV reported.
On Wednesday night, police were called to an assisted living center, where Daniel Diaz, 91, was threatening staff workers, WFTX reported.
According to an incident report, staffers said Diaz kicked a nurse and swung at an employee. Diaz also allegedly made statements, including “Go ahead and shoot me” and “Give me your gun and I’ll shoot myself.”
After trying to calm Diaz, officers planned to take him into custody under the Baker Act, which allows officials to take people with a mental illness involuntarily for examination. Diaz resisted and the officer, identified as J. Kleiver in the incident report, warned Diaz he would be "tased," WINK reported.
According to the report, Diaz appeared to try to bite one of the officers, and that’s when the officer shot Diaz with the stun gun from about 1 inch away. Diaz stopped resisting, WINK reported, and was taken to a hospital and then a behavioral center.
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