ORLANDO, Fla. – New body camera footage released Friday shows a bicyclist being shocked with a Taser by a Florida police officer last year.
Police said last May, the 19-year-old man seen in the video was doing wheelies on his bicycle and took off when an officer with the Orlando Police Department tried to talk to him, WFTV reported.
The officer seen using the Taser, Officer Peter Meier, was given a written censure after the incident. Internal investigators said the officer should not have deployed his Taser.
According to an internal affairs report from October, Meier should not have deployed his Taser, because department policy states officers cannot use their Tasers on subjects operating bicycles, except in cases of aggressive resistance.
Meier said he used a Taser because the bicyclist because he was causing a danger to himself and other drivers.
An investigator documented the bicyclist’s injuries, noting he fell on his left shoulder, where he recently had undergone surgery.
Another officer used a Taser on a second bicyclist, but it’s not immediately clear if that officer was also disciplined.
