Cop Shoots Suspect With Stun Gun, Sets Beard, Chest Hair On Fire
MANITOWOC, Wis. (CBS/AP) — Police say an officer using a stun gun to restrain a naked man accidentally set the man's chest hair and beard on fire.
Officers found the 32-year-old naked man standing in the street in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on Sunday evening. They say the man yelled that he wanted to harm people living nearby.
Officers suspected he was impaired by drugs and placed him in handcuffs, but the man struggled and refused to enter a squad car.
That's when one officer deployed a stun gun, striking a lighter in the man's hand. The lighter fluid and electricity combined to spark the fire in his beard and chest hair.
As officers extinguished the blaze, the man punched one of them in the face.
Manitowoc is 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Green Bay.
A Texas man also caught fire after being hit with stun guns earlier this month.
On July 10, 2017, Arlington police responded to a home where a man, who they've dealt with before, allegedly threatened to kill himself. Officers were talking to the man when he allegedly jumped up. That's when the officers fired stun guns at the man, causing him to be engulfed in flames.
Police said that non-lethal force was the better option to try to subdue him. They also claim he may have had a lighter in his hand, and are still investigating exactly what started the fire.
The man was severely burned. His family says he's in critical condition.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)