TASER® Blog

Here’s another great story about how use of a TASER ECD resolved a potentially dangerous situation without injury or worse.  Great job by Officer  Adam Kimpel of the Piqua, OH Police Department for acting calmly and compassionately.  Here is the account from the Piqua Daily Call.  I love the Deputy Police Chief Tom Steiner’s quote because it perfectly articulates why we at TASER do what we do – to protect lives!

Officer praised for heroic deed

12/8/2009 8:17:00 AM

http://www.dailycall.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=161446&SectionID=119&SubSectionID=205&S=1

By Will E Sanders
Staff Writer

PIQUA, OH – A rookie city cop is being heralded as possibly saving the life of a distraught teen-aged boy who allegedly attempted to shoplift a $2 canister of tobacco following an incident over the weekend that involved a loaded shotgun, authorities said.

With only a year’s worth of police work behind him, Piqua police officer Adam Kimpel deployed a Taser within a bedroom of a city residence, rendering the shotgun-holding 16-year-old male powerless as the rookie officer moved in to secure the loaded firearm and the scene as another officer arrived to the scene, police reports state.

Kimpel responded to the location as a part of an investigation where he tracked the license plate number of the vehicle the teen left in after allegedly attempting to pocket the tobacco from Kwik N Kold, 655 N. Main St., those reports further state.

Upon arrival at the teen’s home, Kimpel allowed the juvenile to go to the bathroom. The officer later found the teen sitting in a bedroom and holding a shotgun, his fingers six inches away from the trigger of the firearm, which was loaded and had the safety off, it was later determined by authorities.

“I was still outside of the room and knowing that I had cover and would be able to remove myself if there was a threat, I then began speaking to (the teen) again about the situation,” Kimpel wrote in his narrative of the incident. “(The teen) stated that he had messed up. His hands then moved down the barrel toward the handle and trigger and he began to say, ‘I (expletive deleted)” … I believe he was going to say ‘I (expletive deleted) up,’ but I quickly raised my Taser weapon and deployed the Taser cartridge at (the teen).”

The teen was later transported to Dettmer Hospital, but was otherwise not seriously harmed, reports state.

The teen was charged with attempted theft, a second-degree misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, a minor misdemeanor, according to Piqua Police Department records.

Due to his age and the nature of the incident, the juvenile is not being named.

Deputy Police Chief Tom Steiner said Kimpel might have saved the teen’s life, or prevented potential harm to himself or other officers, or both. He called Kimpel’s actions “commendable.”

“He made a very good, quick judgement for any officer, especially a younger guy,” Steiner said. “Our feelings is he may have very well saved (the teen’s) life by doing that.”

Oftentimes coming under fire from critics, Steiner said Tasers are used to prevent bodily harm, not create it.

“We use them to save lives,” the deputy chief said.