Florida Police Officer Tased 62-Year Old Black Woman In The Back (VIDEO)

Bureau caption here in Montpelier, Vt., Monday, April 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
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A Tallahassee police officer tased a 62-year old African-American woman in the back while she was walking away from him.

The incident, which was caught on tape, has resulted in an internal investigation and the officer being put on leave. It happened while police were responding to calls about drug deals on Tuesday evening.

Video of the woman being Tased was released by Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo who announced the internal investigation of the officer, Terry Mahan, at a news conference on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Based on the video, I have enough concerns to call for an internal investigation,” DeLeo said, according to the Associated Press. “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.”

In the video, Mahan is seen walking past two police cars toward the woman, Viola Young. Young turns around and Mahan pulls out his stun gun and shoots at Young’s back. Young falls down straight onto the ground.

A released police report said that Mahan said Young and another man were yelling at officers. When Mahan told people to step back, the man complied, according to the report, but Young did not.

“I just want to know what is going on!” she said.

The report said that Mahan said Young had “obstructed officers while in the course of completing their legal duties.” According to Mahan Young refused another call from police to back away. He then said to Young that she was under arrest. Young “yanked away” according to the report and walked away “in an attempt to defeat her lawful arrest” which prompted Mahan to use his stun gun.

Watch the video of the woman being Tased below, which occurs around 2:30 in the video:

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