Mt. Dora man Tased, pepper-sprayed after charging police

MOUNT DORA, Fla. — Dashboard cam video shows a man charge toward a Mount Dora police officer seconds before he was taken down with pepper spray and a Taser.

Several people called 911 Friday morning and said a man was walking down the middle of U.S. 441 and refusing to move for drivers.

Police said they found Anthony Schaffer walking in the middle of the road, and when officers confronted him, Schaffer charged them.

Mount Dora police said officers had to deploy their Tasers twice and use pepper spray before they were able to arrest the unarmed man.

"The officer commanded him several times to stop, he did not, continued to walk towards the officer almost like he was going to walk through her," said Lt. Robert Bell with Mount Dora police.

When officers first used a Taser on Schaffer they say it had no effect because he was wearing several layers of clothing, so they deployed a Taser again.

The video shows he continued to fight with officers.

An officer pepper-sprayed Schaffer and he was placed under arrest.

Linda Updike said Schaffer was homeless and lived with her for almost a year after she took him in.

"He's a stubborn man, not a bad man," Updike said.

She said he kept the house clean for her and helped her do dishes.

When she saw the video of what happened, she said she thinks police did the right thing.

"If he put any endangerment or assault towards an officer, I say go ahead and Tase him," Updike said.

The Mount Dora Police Department is conducting a use-of-force investigation, which is standard procedure.

WFTV