Wyoming cops taser 76-year-old tractor driver in parade

GLENROCK, Wyoming (AP) — Bud Grose seemed like the last person who should attract the attention of police when the 76-year-old retiree hopped on his antique tractor and rumbled through the annual parade in this small Wyoming town.

But what was supposed to be a day of fun at an end-of-summer festival ended abruptly when police shot Grose with a Taser in a dispute about where to end the parade route.

The incident nearly incited a riot as outraged neighbors rushed to his defense. Now residents of this tight-knit town of 2,400 are seething over what they see as police brutality, and town officials are scrambling to ease the tension.

The Glenrock Police Department has placed two of its seven officers on paid administrative leave and hired a consultant to conduct an internal review that began last week. Prosecutors have decided against filing any charges in the Aug. 1 confrontation, and Police Chief Tom Sweet acknowledged the situation has "highly inflamed the community."

"To me it doesn't matter if this was a town of Glenrock's size or New York City. This kind of stuff can't go on," said Grose's son, Mike. "It doesn't matter if there's 10 officers or a thousand, this is just totally unacceptable. We're taught to respect the law, not fear it."

The fracas at the annual Deer Creek Days arose from confusion over whether members of the tractor club could deviate from the parade route shortly before it ended.

Grose wanted to head directly to the town park for a tractor pull like in previous years. But the police department had a different plan, which apparently was not communicated to the tractor drivers.

As a result, Grose encountered an officer attempting to direct the tractors along the regular parade route. Grose said he drove around the officer. The officer said he was struck by the tractor and injured his wrist, according to a state review of the incident.

The police chief said the officer then chased Grose on foot until a fellow officer joined the pursuit in a police car and caught up to Grose's tractor. The police pulled in front of the tractor, and the tractor came to a stop as it bumped the police car.

That is when the officer shocked Grose with the Taser. "It hurt like hell," said Bud Grose, who suffered bruising on his left upper body but no serious injuries.

Grose eventually managed to pull the tractor around the police car and to a parking area down the road. An angry crowd formed as police kept ordering Grose off the tractor. Police did not arrest Bud Grose because of the tension at the scene, Sweet said.

"At the time, it was very close to having a riot right there, and that probably would have created a full-scale riot," Sweet said.

Grose's son, Mike, agreed. "There was some very good people there ready to make some bad choices that would have affected them for the rest of their lives," he said. "That's the point it had gotten to."

A lawyer for the two officers issued a statement Monday saying the officer who fired the Taser did so only after Grose "slammed" his tractor into the police car, resisted police commands and kept driving.

"They ultimately de-escalated a volatile situation created by Mr. Grose's actions. If anyone violated the law that day, it was Mr. Grose," Casper attorney John Robinson said. "He should not be regarded as a folk hero."

Police fired the Taser five times, according to a state review.

Residents are not letting the matter fade quietly. Mike Grose and his wife have printed T-shirts with a cartoonish drawing of a police officer using a Taser on a tractor driver. The caption reads "If you missed Deer Creek Days 2009, you missed a shocking experience."

An estimated 2,000 people were on hand for the parade, which is part of a festival offering cookouts, an art show, street dances, sports tournaments, car races and a Christian revival.

After reviewing the state Division of Criminal Investigation's report, Converse County Attorney Quentin Richardson said last week that prosecution was not warranted for "any individual involved in the incident."

Bud Grose, who has retained an attorney, said he was relieved by that decision. He said he hopes the police internal investigation comes to the "correct decision."

 

That's a poorly written story.

1. Fact that cops fired the taser five times was buried.

2. The police version of events was both buried and lacking.

 

Exactly. If the police reports are accurate, then this guy driving the tractor was way out of line.

You're made to believe that this is another story about a police officer being a doucebag, but it's not until you're more than halfway through the story when you find out that the guy driving the tractor was an idiot.

 

I'm sure the old guy bumped the cop car because they went sliding all Dukes of Hazard in front of him. It's a 76-year-old man on an antique tractor. If you truly want him to stop run up directly behind him, climb aboard and hit the switch to kill it.

From the moment every Barney Fife wannabe is handed a taser their goal in life is to zap somebody.

Rousting geezers on a parade route is a lot easier and safer than actually rounding up drug dealers and deadbeat dads.

 

I'm more inclined to side with the cops.
You stop. Don't ignore - muchless hit - a cop directing traffic. You don't hit a police cruiser stopped in front of you with a tractor. Do what you are told and you don't have a problem?
If I am a cop am I climbing onto a running tractor to forcibily remove an old man? No.
Taser ?? Certainly a better, safer option.

And that old bastard knew what he was doing. The tractor folks have been going that way for years and he wasn't going change. He's thining fuck the police.
I know, I know nobody told the tractor folks there was a new route ...except the cop directing traffic, the one tractor man went around and grazed.

This is not that hard to follow; PO-lice are in charge. Do what they say, when they say and you will encounter less problems. I can guarantee you won't end up tasered.

 

Let's see, cops are using Tasers on the elderly, the pregnant, and let's throw in toddlers while we're at it. People should riot. This Taser shit is getting ridiculous.

 

How exactly did cops handle these situations before they had their hand held electrocutors?

I don't care who was in the right in the dispute, something's wrong if our police can't handle a 76 year old man without pulling out the taser. Maybe we need to take their toys away if they can't figure out when and when not to use em.

 

I believe it was Chekov who said if a Taser is introduced in the first act, it must be fired by the third.

 

"Don't taser me, Sonny!"

Sorry. Leaving now ...

 

Good point. Cops had no choice or they would have been drummed out of the screen writers guild.