tasered on shrooms(bad trip)

[psyvision2000]

<DIV id=post_message_3638549>Police subdue student with Tasers
Freshman ingested hallucinogens, which spurred outburst Thursday

By Amy Harder

November 15, 2005

A force of four police officers and three medics restrained Western freshman Alex Rich with Tasers early Thursday morning.

Rich said his episode was the result of ingesting psilocybin mushrooms, an illegal hallucinogenic drug.

The incident occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. After ingesting the mushrooms, Rich fell from the third story of Higginson Hall onto a bike rack in the residence hall’s inner courtyard, said Western junior Barbara Martin, who witnessed the event.

“I was just experimenting with something that I shouldn’t have been,” Rich said. “It was basically a nightmare that I never want to experience again. I am lucky to be alive right now.”

Officers did not arrest Rich for the altercation, Jim Shaw, University Police Chief and Western’s director of public safety said.

Rich said this was his first time ingesting psilocybin mushrooms, and it will also be his last.

The University Police responded to a medical-aid call at Higginson Hall at 1:41 a.m., Shaw said. One UP officer and three medics arrived at Higginson Hall to find Rich lying next to the bike rack, according to the police report.

UP Officer Chris Davis did not know when he arrived that Rich was under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, just that a student had fallen from the building, Shaw said. Rich became combative when one of the medics tried to hold his head and assess his injuries, he said.

“The minute he touched him things went from bad to worse,” Shaw said.

Rich said he was screaming and hallucinating about imaginary figures and people chasing him. He said he does not remember most of the incident but vaguely recalls certain parts of the hallucinations.

The UP officers at the scene called for Bellingham Police Department assistance after Rich bit Davis so severely he needed immediate medical attention, Shaw said. UP Cpl. Joe Bailey arrived at the scene shortly before two Bellingham police officers, Shaw said.

“He was kicking and flailing at the EMT,” Shaw said. “He continued to resist, despite warnings that he’d be Tasered. They didn’t just immediately apply the Tasers. They tried everything they could to dissuade him, but (Rich) wasn’t in any position to cognitively understand.”

Bailey Tasered Rich 10 times in an attempt to restrain him, Shaw said.

“He would just scream and not respond any other way to the Tasers,” Martin said. “The whole area smelled like burning flesh. It was disgusting. I knew several people who were very close to throwing up.”

The Tasers temporarily immobilized Rich, Shaw said. Rich would start violently resisting officers’ attempts to restrain him, however, when Bailey stopped Tasering him.

Tasers are less violent than pepper spray or batons and do not have a lasting effect on the individual, Shaw said, regarding police’s reasoning behind using the device.

“He wasn’t responding to anyone holding him down,” Shaw said. “You don’t use a Taser just because it’s there — you use it to overcome the resistance of an individual.”

Martin said that by this time 50 to 75 Higginson residents heard the noise from the incident, came out of their rooms and witnessed the rest of the 30-minute event.

After tying Rich with zip ties and putting a mesh bag, also known as a spit shield, over his head, authorities forced him into an ambulance, Shaw said. He said the officers applied the spit shield to prevent Rich from spitting blood into the officers’ faces.

“I realize now that for my own safety I had to be detained,” Rich said.

The medics took Rich to St. Joseph Hospital, where he stayed most of Thursday, Shaw said. Nicci Noteboom, public relations specialist for the hospital, said doctors treated and released Rich. Federal patient-privacy laws prohibit the hospital from releasing any further information regarding Rich.

“All I have right now is bruises, soreness, cuts and swelling,” Rich said. “My face is pretty banged up, and both my hands swelled up because I was trying to get out of the cuffs. There are also a bunch of marks on my back (from the Tasers).”

Rich said he is recovering better now that he is out of the hospital.

“It was painful to do any movement,” Rich said. “I really couldn’t move after my night in the hospital. It has been a process of healing to be able to walk without pain. I still have pain when walking now in my feet and back.”

Rich attended a meeting Monday with Western’s Dean of Students Ted Pratt to discuss the repercussions of his actions, Rich said. Rich is suspended from Western for the rest of fall quarter and all of winter quarter, Pratt said. He violated the Student Rights and Responsibilities Code, which the Western Bulletin sets forth for Western students, Pratt said. The university distributes the bulletin before fall quarter begins each year.

“It’s not about beating anybody up,” Pratt said, referring to Rich’s suspension. “We look at each situation as a development opportunity for the student first and foremost.”

The UP and the Residence Life office are considering providing an informational meeting this week for witnesses who want to better understand the procedure the police used, Shaw said.

“It was a rather astonishing show of violence needing to subdue a very violent person,” Martin said. “It’s just upsetting when you witness that.”

The meeting would allow students to ask questions about the event and the use of Tasers, Shaw said.

“If there are concerns, we certainly want to address them,” Shaw said. “To somebody, four to five police officers are excessive, but actually it minimizes the opportunity for somebody to be injured.”

The UP acquired the Tasers a year ago and have only used them one other time, Shaw said.

The other case was three months ago when a non-student was fleeing a burglary in the Fairhaven Complex, Shaw said.

After his experience, Rich said he will not experiment with hallucinogenic drugs again, and he hopes other students realize the dangers of hallucinogenic drugs.

“Be really careful what you want to experiment with in college,” Rich said. “You never know how drastic and unexpected the effects will be. If you are experimenting with drugs you should really, really take a second look at it.”

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Reputation Comments on this post:

Good news report

[Alfa]

University Police Cpl. Ed Malpica displays a Taser at Thurdsay’s meeting. <A =Nav name=skip_image_1></A>Edited by: Alfa

[Nature Boy]

What an idiot that kid was. Just the sort of puppet that law enforcers and the media can manipulate in order to tighten up restrictions on pyschedelics and in order to sell some newspapers.

What is the deal with these dumbasses jumping off buildings while on shrooms? I've never felt the temptation to do anything of the sort.

[sunyata]

Natural Selection.

[turfshark_40]

Sounds like some idiot freshman straight from mommy's lap who's barely had time to get used to beer and decides he wants to eat a handful of mushrooms. The cool kids do it, right? And besides, isn't that what they say college is for, experimentation? That's what it said on the last episode of Dawson's Creek I watched.

[Nagognog2]

Another one climbed out of the shallow end of the gene-pool. I wondered where this had taken place, and when I saw Bellingham - I knew. Bellingham, Washington is a pig-sty of a city across a spit from Seattle. When I was living in Seattle, we all knew better than to go to Bellingham.


Out around, and in, Seattle grow some of the finest mushrooms in the world. The dreary, wet conditions there provide a perfect growth medium. And not just psychedelic 'shrooms - there are tons there for the picking.If you love mushrooms as a food, and you know what you are doing, a trip to Seattle will be very worthwhile.Edited by: nagognog2

[Barret VII]

It is bastards like these that give drugs and those who use them a bad name. And of course there is always that little quip at the end that reinforces the "drugs are bad" philosophy and further ingrains it into the mind of the average citizen.

[Alfa]

Mind that being tasered gives amnesia, so that was not caused by shrooms. I wonder what made that guy fall of the building.

[psyvision2000]

I was recently given the pleasure of visiting fulton county jail for a few months and while there, there had beeen 2 tazer deaths caused by the same sherrif department in 2 weeks.......

[Alfa]

A taser can be set on different strengths of power output. That Sherif probably has a strong taser on full output, which is very dangerous.

[psyvision2000]

alpha it was big news over there, they had it on video... it wasnt only put on high(if that was it) they had him cuffed to a bench and he was passed out and they still keeped tasing him.... for some reason the d.a office didnt want to prosecute? i look for the video link on the net and post it here.

[psyvision2000]

hey alpha and other.. i found the link to the video of the gwinnett county sherrifs taser death. Check out how inhumane people can get.By the way gwinnett county is a primarily rich white county(alot of racists people there, i was in jail near there) do you think that had anything to do with this black mans death?


http://wizbangblog.com/archives/005823.php

[Alicia]

Has anyone thought he was pre-deposed to mental illness, freaked fell out a building. and was just one of those things. Explains why they used tazers. This is also proof that they will use any attempt at proving drugs are harmful mind you, I have had an urge to jump out and window. Dumb-shit oh well ya get them I suppose. interestingly enough there was a death in the uk about a guy who jumped out a building, of course the news said it was shrooms which was tiny amount, what they didn't mention was the fact that he had so much to drink prior. Hmmm but is'nt that the legal drug that kills people all year round..

I hate it they make me feel closed in, "You should'nt eat them mushrooms they'll make you think you can fly." Has anyone heard that one before? lsd 70's? i have a low tolrance towards people who say drugs are bad when they have been fed bullshit to believe it.

With love Alicia xx
Ps dont go near that window peeps!

[Alicia]

Has anyone thought he was pre-deposed to mental illness, freaked fell out a building. and was just one of those things. Explains why they used tazers. This is also proof that they will use any attempt at proving drugs are harmful mind you, I have'NT had any urges to jump out and window when i munched them. Dumb-shit oh well ya get them I suppose. interestingly enough there was a death in the uk about a guy who jumped out a building, of course the news said it was shrooms which was tiny amount, what they didn't mention was the fact that he had so much to drink prior. Hmmm but is'nt that the legal drug that kills people all year round..

I hate it they make me feel closed in, "You should'nt eat them mushrooms they'll make you think you can fly." Has anyone heard that one before? lsd 70's? i have a low tolrance towards people who say drugs are bad when they have been fed bullshit to believe it.

With love Alicia xx
Ps dont go near that window peeps![/QUOTE]

[Alicia]

Sorry had to correct some in 1st one... silly me

[bonghed]

Well, shit happens, it was very unfortunate, but none of you really know what happened(ME NEITHER), that freshmen, done something that wasn't for him, and he learned his lesson, it's a shame shit like this funds the sad-pathetic attempt at taking fellow people's well freedom,

People make "mistakes" it seems he has learnt unlike most people,

But it could have happened to (nearly) any freshman, young and dumb, but he won't end up comfortably numb

[Bongermann]

“He would just scream and not respond any other way to the Tasers,” Martin said. “The whole area smelled like burning flesh. It was disgusting. I knew several people who were very close to throwing up.”

This seems like a fine time to end the use of the taser and maybe use something else? They surely MUST have some other means to subdue him, other than sending electrical shocks through his nervous system! If not, well, stop fucking touching the guy! Jesus H. Christ, do they know nothing about what they... nevermind, I think it's clear that they don't know anything.

This guy is lucky he doesn't get a real Darwin Award though. Damn, I almost wish he had just severed his spine or died. That way there'll be less morons running around. Every little bit helps, right?

By the way, I'm sure this doesn't only happen to young people. I know very many 'young' people who have great and responsible trips, and many older people who don't, also many older people who have. It doesn't go with age, it go's with individual experience with the drug in question.


In closing... What a dipshit. [This applies to the tripper and the cops.]

[devious]

Some people just cant handle the spirituality involved in sacremental shrooms