Police In Florida Use Stun Gun Twice While Arresting Rams' Tre Mason
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (CBSLA.com/AP) — Los Angeles Rams running back Tre Mason was subdued with a stun gun twice when he refused to cooperate with officers who were arresting him in South Florida for reckless driving and marijuana possession, police in Hollywood, Florida, said Sunday.
Mason refused orders to get out of his Porsche sports car Saturday afternoon after he was pulled over for going more than twice the speed limit in a 35-mile-per-hour zone along a beachside road, according to a police report released by the Hollywood Police Department.
Mason refused to give the patrol officer his name or provide identification, and the officer smelled marijuana in the car.
"I warned the defendant if he did not identify himself he would be subject to arrest and he smirked as he was making eye contact," Officer Lester Cochenour wrote in his report.
The officer called for backup and warned Mason he would be arrested if he didn't provide identification, the report said.
Cochenour told Mason he was under arrest. When the officer attempted to removed Mason from the car by taking his left arm, Mason braced himself against the car's floor, seat and steering wheel. Another officer joined the effort to get Mason out of the car, but he still resisted, according to the police report.
"The defendant was warned several times in a composed voice to stop resisting, exit the vehicle and if he did not comply with arrest, a Taser would be used," the officer wrote in the report.
A third officer arrived, and when another effort failed to remove him, Mason was stunned on his torso with a Taser. He was stunned again outside the vehicle in his pelvis when he refused to put his hands behind his back as ordered, the report said.
Mason was then taken to a hospital for medical clearance since he had been stunned. While he was there, bond was posted for him so he was released from police custody and never had to go to jail, said Jaime Hernandez, spokesman for the Hollywood Police Department. Hernandez did not immediately know how much Mason's bail was.
Mason is charged with resisting arrest without violence, reckless driving, possessing less than 20 grams of cannabis and failure to register a vehicle.
Mason recorded the police stop on his phone, according to the police report.
Court records listed no attorney for him, and a call to Mason's agent wasn't immediately returned.
Mason, 22, has a home in Delray Beach and went to high school in nearby Lake Worth.
He was drafted by the Rams out of Auburn University in 2014. He has played two seasons for the Rams, who are relocating from St. Louis to Los Angeles.
On Sunday, the Rams issued the following statement:
"We are very disappointed to learn of an incident involving Tre Mason in the Miami, Fla. area Saturday afternoon. We are in the process of obtaining more information about the facts surrounding this incident and will have no further comment at this time."
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