Lake Havasu City Police subdued a fleeing suspect with a stun gun in the center of downtown Tuesday morning.
“They (police) got the passenger, but the driver ran,” said eyewitness Denise Solano, of Parker. Solano was waiting in a shuttle parked on McCulloch Boulevard outside Desert Martini when the incident occurred.
“An officer saw them acting suspicious and ran the plates of the vehicle,” said Sgt. Pat Wilson, who was the sergeant at the scene. “The car came back as reported stolen.”
Wilson said police units, which included himself and two officers, responded to the area and waited for the suspects to return to the vehicle. When the suspects, who were believed to be inside BJ’s Tavern, occupied the vehicle in question, the police moved in to arrest them and that is when Carlton fled on foot, according to police. The incident occurred at about 11 a.m.
Carlton, who told police he recently moved to Lake Havasu City, sustained superficial injuries during the arrest. He complained of chest pains and was taken by River Medical ambulance to Havasu Regional Medical Center where he was later released into police custody. Sloma discounted the notion that the chest pains were caused by the stun gun, saying Tasers are not known to cause chest pains.
The use of a Taser is an unusual occurrence for downtown Lake Havasu City in the mid-morning, but as Richie explained a Taser is used to subdue a combative or a fleeing suspect. Unlike television, police officers do not tackle and wrestle suspects to the ground, but rather use a Taser, which minimizes the use of force, he said.





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