Police Tase Naked Man, Accidentally Set Him On Fire

Wisconsin police tased a naked man who was holding a lighter, accidentally and briefly setting him on fire.

Stun gun
WikiCommons

Image via WikiCommons

Stun gun

Last weekend was lit for one Wisconsin man—but not in a good way. According to a report obtained by USA Today, police arrested a 32-year-old nude man Friday night in Manitowoc. Then they accidentally set him on fire. Let's start at the beginning.

Police talked to a young woman who said the man was dating her mother and had lived in their home for about two years. She said he started drinking alcohol three hours before and started to act "weird," saying things like, "Stay in the light and never come into the dark."

Then the man threw the glass he had been drinking from into the street, and took off his clothes and tossed them onto the front porch. When police arrived on the scene, they found the subject naked and shouting that he had a knife and intended to gut people in the home.

Police got the man to put his pants back on, then tried to get him into a squad car; he refused and a struggled ensued. Here's where it gets interesting. In a news conference held Tuesday, Manitowoc Assistant Chief Scott Luchterhand​ said it took three Taser deployments to stop the man. The first had no effect. The second deployment hit a lighter in the man's hand—how the hell he managed to pick up a lighter during the scuffle, no ones knows—and caused a "flame burst." When the tip of the Taser hit the lighter, a combination of lighter fluid and electricity from the Taser caused the man's beard and chest hair to catch on fire.

According to Luchterhand, an officer patted the fire off of the man's body, but he continued to fight back. He then punched an officer in the face and was tased a third time, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. Officers called an ambulance, and the suspect was eventually charged with felony resisting/battery to an officer, disorderly conduct, and lewd and lascivious behavior.

In the end, the man's chest and facial hair were singed, but he was not seriously burned.

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