Former courthouse security head charged with assault

May 9, 2008
By Dirk VanderHart, News Leader (Springfield, Missouri)

The former head of security at the Greene County Courthouse stands charged with assault, after allegedly aiming his Taser at a woman in a joking manner last month.

Prosecutors on Friday charged former Sgt. Robert Green with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, for the April 8 incident. He could face up to 15 days in jail if convicted.

A probable cause statement used to charge Green said he had been joking with Tiffany Adamson, who works for Springfield attorney Stacie Bilyeu, when he “drew his Taser and pointed it at Adamson.

“Adamson observed a red laser light on her left breast and stomach,” Farrell wrote. “I asked Adamson what her thoughts were when the Taser was pointed at her. Adamson said she felt ‘trapped, detained, threatened and like she could not move.’”

In an interview with a Greene County detective after the alleged incident, Green said he “screwed up,” the document said, and admitted that he had “lasered” a woman.

In Missouri, no actual physical contact is required for an assault charge to be filed. A person may be found guilty of the crime if he or she places another in “apprehension of immediate physical injury.”

Green, who had been with the sheriff’s department for 19 years, resigned last month as deputies began to investigate the alleged incident.

If the allegations are true, Greene County Chief Deputy Jim Arnott has said Green’s actions would be a clear violation of department policy.

For more on this story, read tomorrow’s News-Leader.