YouTube Taser cop back on the job

updated 3:47 p.m. ET Jan. 11, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah trooper who used a stun gun on a motorist who was walking away from him in a confrontation widely viewed on YouTube is back on duty after taking a verbal communications course.

Trooper Jon Gardner returned to work recently after internal investigators question the motorist in the Sept. 14 confrontation on U.S. 40 in eastern Utah, said Col. Lance Davenport, commander of the state highway patrol.

The driver, Jared Massey, obtained the trooper's dashboard camera video through a public records request and posted it on YouTube in November. Gardner's superiors acknowledged that the attention on the video prompted them to speed up their review of the confrontation.

The state patrol had said soon after the video surfaced on YouTube that Gardner felt threatened and was justified in jolting driver Massey after Massey walked away from him and refused to sign a speeding ticket.

The video shows Gardner drawing his stun gun after Massey refused the ticket.

Conflict resolution skills training
A surprised Massey asks, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Gardner fires, and Massey shrieks and falls.

"Face down! Face down! Put your hands behind your back!" Gardner orders.

A woman screaming hysterically emerges from the passenger side of the sport utility vehicle Massey was driving, and the trooper tells her to get back inside "or you're going to jail, too."

State patrol policy allows troopers to use a stun gun if someone is a threat to themselves or others and other means of control are unreasonable. Though an internal investigation has not concluded, Gardner's superiors have said while justified that his "attitude" was a problem and could be a good case study for training.

Gardner learned better conflict resolution skills after taking administrative leave in November, Davenport said.

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