Edmonton cops fire taser 5 (or was it 6??) times, then pin teen with cruiser

October 16, 2008
The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - A 16-year-old boy refused to drop a knife even after police tried five times to zap him with a Taser on Wednesday night. Eventually they pinned the teenager against a fence with a police cruiser. The incident started with a fight between the teen and his father, said police Staff Sgt. Langford Bawn. The teen got a black eye in the fight, then left the house with a knife.

Police were called shortly after 5 p.m. to a spot near 99th Street and 169th Avenue. When efforts to subdue the teenager with a Taser failed, an officer drove his car at the teen and pinned him against a fence. Then they kicked the knife from his hand. The teen was not seriously injured.

The driving manoeuvre was done carefully, police said. "It's either that or shoot him," Bawn said. "You drive slow and do what you can do." It's unclear how many times the Taser prongs connected and actually shocked the teenager.

He was arrested, then taken to a hospital to be checked out.

The CANADIAN PRESS is reporting that the teen was tasered SIX times:

EDMONTON — Edmonton police zapped a teenager who had brawled with his father six times with an electronic stun gun.

Police say officers were called to a confrontation where they found a 16-year-old youth walking with a knife near a condominium. When he refused to stop police said they fired Tasers at him but the darts from the weapons failed to penetrate his heavy coat.

The youth pulled the darts out and kept going, prompting officers to fire four more Taser rounds at him without success.

He was eventually stopped when police pinned him between a cruiser and a fence and fired a sixth Taser round that hit his unprotected leg, immobilizing him.

The youth was treated at hospital for injuries.