Terry Mahan from the Tallahassee Police Department was responding to reports of drug sales in a neighborhood when the incident happened late afternoon on Sept. 30.
Viola Young approached Mahan and his colleagues to ask about the three individuals detained in relation to the reported selling of drugs in the neighborhood. The police officers told her to stand back but she refused. Mahan then turned to arrest Young but she resisted. At one point Mahan grabbed her arm. Young yanked back her arm and turned to walk away. It was then that Mahan fired his stun gun on her back to subdue her.
Incapacitated, Young was handcuffed and taken into custody without further resistance. Along with Quaneshia Rivers, Quontarrious Jones, and Laguna Young, she was charged with resisting arrest without violence. No drug charges were filed. It is also not clear if Viola and Laguna were related.
According to Mahan's report, Young's actions had obstructed police officers while they were in the course of carrying out their legal duties.
After the incident, Mahan was put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. Tallahassee police chief Michael DeLeo said video evidence of the incident was strong enough to warrant sanctions against Mahan.
"The investigation will determine not only if the officer's actions were legal, but if those actions are consistent with the expectations that I have for officers and the way we treat members of our community with dignity and respect," said DeLeo
"We will conduct a thorough investigation into this incident. We want to be transparent with the community by sharing what we can at this point, including the video," he added.
A video of the incident has been uploaded by the Tallahassee Police Department on YouTube.
Because Mahan is white and Young was black, the issue of race could also be at play.
Dale Landry , the local chapter head for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he would like more information about the case before making a comment. However, he did note that it looks like Mahan lost control as Young had not done anything but was shot with a stun gun as she was walking away.
Young was cleared by Leon County Emergency Medical Services before she was taken to the Leon County Jail. She was booked afterwards but was no longer under police custody in the afternoon of Oct. 1.
There are no reports yet whether Young will be pressing charges against the Tallahassee Police Department.
