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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Taser Story Goes Viral

At the end of the day yesterday, I was contacted by Allentown Attorney Rick Orloski. He's the ambulance chaser (according to some of my readers) who filed a federal lawsuit against Allentown police officer Jason Ammary late last week. Ammary used his taser on a 14 year-old girl on September 29, when she and two of her female companions were on their way home from Dieruff High School. She was committing a very serious crime - walking in the street.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" Orloski demanded. Apparently, he had been besieged all day by reporters and TV cameras from four different news stations. Even Fox.

I think he's suing me next.

The story and the video I posted yesterday have done viral. The video had 8,148 hits at midnight, with 69 likes, 52 dislikes and 302 comments.

My video appeared on Drudge Report, Philly Daily News, The Blaze, Express Times, U.K.'s Daily Mail, The Root, MSNBCNewsOne, GlobalGrind, HuffPo, Opposing Views, and NBCPhiladelphia.

I'll avoid driving in Allentown for the next few weeks years. Orloski should be picked up for DUI sometime this weekend.

Updated 10:35 AM: Holy shit! The video now has 244,209 views! It has also been age-restricted by Youtube because it depicts violence. So 14 year-old girls can be shot by police with tasers, but can't watch the video. This is one strange country!

51 comments:

Anonymous said...

You don't comment on the boy in handcuffs being led away at the end of the video. No of course not. that would show what was really going on.

The officer responded to a potentially dangerous situation with appropriate force.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I did comment about that, when I wrote about it previously. The video shows one boy being led away in handcuffs by a burly security guy, and two other big security guys with the officer. It is clear there was no need to use that kind of force, especially after the 14 yo girl surrendered.

Anonymous said...

It was a woman taking the boy away. You also neglect to mention that appears to be instigating a riot. Fortunately the police officer stopped the disruption before innocent people got hurt.

Next time she should learn to respect authority and not try and start a riot when an officer asks her to move along and get out of the street.

This is a poorly presented half story and the legitimate news organizations will tear it to shreds.

Anonymous said...

That was the manliest woman I ever saw taking the guy in cuffs. I think its just a dude with long hair. I know novel idea for a crowd who mostly shave their head these days.

Unnamed for a reason

Bernie O'Hare said...

If it's a woman, it's a woman with a beard.

Also, the "riot" claims were bullshit and dismissed. In fact, the officer downright embellished his report, claiming there were "hundreds" of people in the street, when in fact there were three.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"This is a poorly presented half story and the legitimate news organizations will tear it to shreds."

That must be why they all carried the story, so they can claim it is ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Coddling this criminal will only embolden her to commit more crimes. She thinks this is celebrity and fame. Very shameful.

Anonymous said...

Bernie
Only time till this hits national.
Sad for the city and a force that works hard. If only this officer
had taken a moment, stepped back,
used Mace instead, there would be no story today. A number of military experts proclaim tazers not suitable for everyday crime fighting. Too dangerous.

Anonymous said...

What Orloski didn't think a story about a cop, a teen girl in summer clothes and what happened next would go viral? Like ckcck he didn't. He couldn't pay for this kind of publicity. Drudge is world-wide.

Anonymous said...

Usually a city's mayor is in charge of the police. Some might say Allentown's mayor is more interested in securing a new arena and an old airport.

Anonymous said...

According to your images, aren't there a lot of students watching this take place? Won't they be eye-witnesses?

Anonymous said...

Between this incident and the horrific death of a little boy, Allentown's getting an awful reputation.

Anonymous said...

Re: the idea that this all happened because the girl was "simply walking in the street". The cops were there at that time because for the past several days, kids were standing in the middle of street - completely blocking traffic - and openly exchanging money for drugs. This girl was deliberately standing in the middle of the street, calling the cop a "f'ing pig" and encouraging other students to help her fight him. Trust me when I tell you that this girl is a holy mess. Mother is lying when she claims her daughter is a straight A/honor role student - laughable! And if there is any question about the mother's financial motives in all of this - take a good look at her and then take a look at "The Faces of Meth" video online.

Anonymous said...

Come to Allentown for hockey and if the gangs don't shoot you, the cops will choke and tase you. Just one more reason to avoid Allentown like the dangerous plague it is.

Anonymous said...

Saw it on the Drudge Report yesterday.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"According to your images, aren't there a lot of students watching this take place? Won't they be eye-witnesses?"

You betcha'.

Bernie O'Hare said...

" The cops were there at that time because for the past several days, kids were standing in the middle of street - completely blocking traffic - and openly exchanging money for drugs."

Oh, I see. Well, if the place was loaded with cops, there should be no need to use a taser.

"This girl was deliberately standing in the middle of the street, calling the cop a "f'ing pig" and encouraging other students to help her fight him."

Try again. The inciting riot charges were dismissed. Calling a cop a pig is no basis for him to ram her against a car or taser her.

Anonymous said...

Seems that the elephant in the living room will clearly be ignored. This incident is the basis of a much larger societal problem that we are facing these days.

Kids are growing up in environments where respect for authority figures are extinct. Probably because there are no authority figures at home. Schools now have weapons policies, security guards, school officers, metal detectors, layers of staff including teachers aides, layers of principals to help control discipline, and a population of children that are growing up to be insufferable, disrespectful adults, who wind up in the corrections system.

If you fail to surrender to police at the time of arrest you face force. Technicalities about the use of force will now be decided by the judicial system. An officer lost his job. A teen has been made an example of, and has suffered public scorn.

A lose-lose situation. If I pulled this as a kid, I'd be sent to my room for a month, wring on a tablet, 10,000 times, "You must show respect for authority."

As I look at the teen population these days, I fear for our future generations.

Bernie O'Hare said...

" And if there is any question about the mother's financial motives in all of this"

Or maybe, just maybe, she's a mother who loves her daughter. When we talk about motives, let's look at the many embellishments in the police report, that are plainly rebutted by the wide. The cop embellished what happened bc he knows he went too far.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Kids are growing up in environments where respect for authority figures are extinct. "

If you think incidents like this will promote respect for authority, you're nuts I'm all for respect, but that goes both ways. I also expect respect FROM authority, and it is nonexistent here.

Anonymous said...

Your video?

Anonymous said...

Riot. Bwahahahaa....

Anonymous said...

Possibly, but I doubt the cop woke up that morning planning to taser a 14 year old.

You could not pay me enough money to be a cop or a teacher, or a coach for that matter.

The teen has rights, but so does the cop. Trying to sort through all of it will be tedious for the lawyers. The gal is no whimpy wallflower, and cold-cocked the officer in the face.

Not sure about the use of the taser, as I have no knowledge of weapon procedures. But even a big gal like that would have been injured if the officer had to throw her around with hand-to hand force.

Its a shame that she was allegedly mouthing off to begin with.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Your video?"

Only in the sense that I uploaded it to Youtube. It is a City video.

Anonymous said...

OK, so if the kid disrespected authority, cuff her and arrest her. Don't pussy out with a taser.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Its a shame that she was allegedly mouthing off to begin with."

I expect a teenager to act like a teenager, although it would be wrong. I do not expect a police officer to embellish his official account of what happened, which clearly occurred her. I do not expect a police officer to use a taser against a 14 yo girl, even if she hits him.

Anonymous said...

OK Officer O'Hare,

Whats the correct thing to do when making an arrest, and being cold-cocked in the face by the suspect?

Bernie O'Hare said...

"So you did all this...how much money did you make?"

That's a strange question, but I made no money.

Bernie O'Hare said...

It seems like the officer had already done the correct thing. He had the child subdued. There was no reason to pull the trigger. Also, the correct thing to do would have been to prepare an honest report instead of one that embellishes what was going on.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Only time till this hits national."

Looks like it did.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Obviously, Bernie knows nothing about "Use of Force," and obviously has never actually had to regain control of an out of control child (I'm guessing you've never had kids, right?)."

I have two children.

I've read all about the continuum of force being used to justify this assault. By your own standards, the need to use force stopped when her hands went up in the air, in surrender.

Bernie O'Hare said...

" I'm a minority, so you can't call me racist."

Then I call on you to stand up for minorities and condemn the racist comments here, when you see them. I will delete them eventually, but they can be up for hours at a time before I get to it.

What's sad, and as a member of a minority I am sure you know, is that there are so many bigoted people out there.

Monkey Momma said...

Bernie,
Great job on getting LV Ramblings on a national (international?) stage! That is awesome.

I still think the video is inconclusive, but it's a great story. You covered it well!

Is the city's camera footage available to anyone?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Yes. Any person willing to file a RTK request could get it (and pay for it). The edited portion of the video, about which many people complain, does not show anything.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should sit second chair to Orloski, you have such a great legal mind Bernie...

Bernie O'Hare said...

This is not about me. Some people are so full of hate that they just have to personalize everything.

Anonymous said...

People like you Bernie, are the reason why kids are so disrespectful to authority today.

Your constant defense of this 14 year old girl sends a loud , sinister message to teens who scrapple with cops.

I know from experience that a profession that serves the public, such as law enforcement, places its employees under constant scrutiny.

Having said that, it is a shame that the officer had to be put on the defense to begin with, had to justify his actions to his superiors, and ultimately "embellished" the facts as you say he did.

The officer maintained enough composure to use the taser, in the very same nanosecond she lifted her arms. He made a split second choice, and a good one.

Shes lucky she didnt get clocked in the mouth as an alternate method to subdue, as she would be sipping from a straw for a long, long time.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Yeah, giving her a taser shot in the vagina is much better. You're all heart.

Anonymous said...

Prediction:

The case will never go to trial. It will be settled for an undisclosed $$ amount, most of which will hit Mr. Orloski's pocket.

The kid and mom will walk away saying "Ha, we were right."

The kid continues this behavior, and winds up in the criminal justice system as an adult, and the taxpayer will continue to pay.

Its a lose- lose, whatever the outcome

Anonymous said...

OK Officer O'Hare,

Whats the correct thing to do when making an arrest, and being cold-cocked in the face by the suspect?


Un, what they did for the last century before tasers?

ironpigpen said...

Congratulations, O'Hare.

You made the "prestigous" DAILY MAIL in the United Kingdom.

The Daily Mail Online did NOT give YOU credit, probably because you are Irish.

Ich habe nicht noch die deutschen Zeitungen gelesen ...

Alan Earnshaw said...

"I'm a minority, so you can't call me racist."
- As quoted by Bernie

Unfortunately, racism is not limited to any one group; I've met racists of all colors.

If you have pre-determined opinions about people based on the color of their skin (positive or negative), you are, by definition, racist. It's insidious, and I suspect we all have to guard against the very human tendency of categorizing people as either "us" or "them."

Anonymous said...

Sie Suceeded. Sie einzulegen die Schleusen. Sie überqueren die Ziellinie mit der Beschreibung der Schuss als in der Vagina. Ich wusste, dass es nur eine Frage der Zeit, die die Linie überschritten werden würde. Und von Ihnen dennoch. FYI Herr Ohare ist die Scheide in das Weibchen der meisten Arten. Ich werde auf ein Glied hier zu sagen, dass die Sonde die Scheide Eindringen nicht. Seien Sie bereit mit der Schaltfläche Löschen. Wer weiß, wie tief es an diesem Punkt gehen wird.

Anonymous said...

I love this American obsession with skin color.

Being Irish, O'Hare should be familiar with the constant Protestant versus Catholic struggle.

Historically speaking, both groups are overwhelmingly white.

How thought-provoking.

Meanwhile, I thought the Coronation of Obama was supposed to end all Racism in America ... Of course, I did not think unemployment would go higher than 8% if we did the Porkulus. I better give the Dummycrats four more years (and a blank check).

Anonymous said...

Spanish. German. Can't these groups learn the language and assimilate?

Anonymous said...

A girl was run over in Atown this morning. She was walking in the street with an "audio device" in her ear. She's struggling for her life. A good tasing might have saved her.

APD

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, I thought the Coronation of Obama was supposed to end all Racism in America ... Of course, I did not think unemployment would go higher than 8% if we did the Porkulus. I better give the Dummycrats four more years (and a blank check).

And meanwhile you and your ilk are a large part of why that didn't happen.
Some habits are hard to break.
Thanks for the 4 more years though.

Anonymous said...

"Un, what they did for the last century before tasers?

12:39 PM"


A nightstick to the head? Yes, much more civilized.

Bernie O'Hare said...

APD, You're very compassionate. A young girl is struck by a woman blabbibg on her cell, is in serious condition, and you suggest she should have been tased. Some of you really hate.

Anonymous said...

Where is Joe Arpaio when we need him?

Harry O' Bern said...

"act like a teenager", perhaps -- but not a disrespectful, belligerent, insubordinate, violence-provoking, disorderly asswipe.