Disappeared News

It's hard to say from this brief KITV report, but it appears that the Honolulu Police may have tased a man with mental health issues. The article describes self-injurious behavior, which can be a characteristic of several mental illnesses.

Police Use Taser To Stop Man Injuring Himself

HONOLULU -- Police arrested and brought down a man with a Taser after he was injuring himself and bicycling through traffic on Nimitz Highway Tuesday morning, authorities said.

A homeless man got into a domestic argument in the Sand Island area, police said.

Then he was seen hurting himself with a sharpened file tool and bicycling in and out of traffic on Nimitz Highway, according to police.

A group of police surrounded the man and stunned him with a Taser, authorities said.... [KITV, May 13, 2008]

So the man was surrounded. Why not put on handcuffs? Was the use of the Taser (which can kill) necessary?

I'll be asking to view the video, which should be a public record. HPD requires that requests be mailed to them, so it will be in the mail tomorrow.

(Thanks to Doug who brought this to my attention in a comment to the previous post.)