OSU Player Tased, Arrested After Being Found Naked and Drunk
I'm sure there is a lesson to be learned in all of this...
Tyler Patrick Thomas, an Oregon State University football player, wandered naked and drunk into the wrong house. For a night cap, the police showed up and treated the 19 year-old offensive lineman to a Tasering and arrest. Police accused him of first-degree criminal trespass, second-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest. He has since been dismissed from the football team.
According to the Corvallis Police Department, at 4:51 a.m. police responded to a call from a 32 year-old woman. The woman reported that there was a naked man in the upstairs office of her residence. Officers quickly arrived on the scene and ordered Thomas to lie down on the floor. Thomas refused leading the way to getting the OSU player tased. The story took a simultaneously hilarious and painful turn, befitting a Hollywood screenplay rather than real life.
Thomas, bless the young lad, moved into a three-point football stance and lunged wildly at the officers, who promptly Tased him. He was booked into county jail and released later the same day.
The use of Tasers by police has been a hot button issue of late. The company recently settled a lawsuit for $2.85 million over brain damage resulting from the use of a Taser. Fortunately no complications occurred when the OSU player was tased, and no one seems to be contending Thomas didn't have it coming.
According to The Corvallis Gazette Times, Thomas was cited in April for minor in possession of alcohol after he used a fake ID to get into a bar in Corvallis. On top of that, police had contacted Thomas the same night as part of an investigation into a loud party complaint. Thomas's roommate and fellow teammate John Braud was cited for hosting a party that provided alcohol to minors.
His coaches, while seemingly empathetic, agreed that Thomas's most recent incident was the last straw. According to OSU head coach Mike Riley, Thomas is an intelligent individual, but he made severe mistakes that left him with no option but to remove him from the team. "This is not his first go-around with this, and it's partly a result of that (first incident)," Riley said, The Corvallis Gazette Times reports. "The move was not a one-time thing. It was a number of reasons. This was icing on the cake."
Related Resources:
- What procedures must the police follow while making an arrest? (FindLaw)
- Taser Lawsuit Highlights Risks of Taser Deaths (FindLaw's Blotter)
- Court Addresses Excessive Force Challenge to Officer's Use of Taser (FindLaw's Ninth Circuit Blog)