BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County deputy was mistakenly hit with a taser Friday when fellow deputies tried to subdue a defendant in court.
Investigators told WFTV that the judge had just declared Reginald Shorter incompetent to stand trial. He is accused of getting into a scuffle with Cocoa police.
Shorter broke free from deputies in court Friday right after a judge ruled the 34-year-old was going to be sent to a psychiatric facility. Deputies said they ran towards the 270-pound man and were unable to get him under control, so they tased him.
In February, a Cocoa police officer said he was in the middle of stopping a man on a bicycle, who had drugs, when Shorter approached them; Shorter tried to take the bike. He was also tased during that incident.
Shorter has been out on bond and showed up to a competency hearing early Friday morning. When the judge ruled he was incompetent, deputies said he wasn't happy so he ran away.
Shorter ended up in the back of the gallery. A deputy tried to gain control of the situation and fired his taser. One prong hit Shorter, but the other prong hit another deputy.
"Get on the ground! Get on the ground!" deputies yelled to Shorter in the courtroom.
Several other deputies ran to help and then tackled Shorter to the ground. A spokesperson said he was then tased two more times.
"Stop tasing me, bro!" Shorter yelled.
"They tried to use touch stun, but it did not appear to have a lot of effect on him," said Todd Maddox of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies tased Shorter a total of three times before they were finally able to put him in handcuffs and then took him into custody. The deputy who fired the taser broke his wrist.
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office did not add any new charges and transported Shorter to a mental facility.
WFTV
