In November 2014, Bryces case was back in the news with reports thatRunnels had left the Independence police force. They couldnt remove his breathing tube or bandages, so they focused on his chest. I read Zipes study, and it just blew me away, Matt remembered. The conversation was still fresh in Bryces mind on September 14 when Officer Runnels pulled him over. Even the victim, 18-year-old Bryce Masters, had seen it only once. Runnels kept the trigger engaged for about 20 seconds, the equivalent of four cycles of the Taser, even though had Masters complied with all of his commands until he fell unconscious. It was clear that officials were determined to place blame on Bryce and paint a picture of a lawful stop that escalated into a justified use of force. My brother is 8 years older. He was waiting to learnhis fateafter pleading guilty to a federal crime he committed almost two years ago, on September 14, 2014. Later Wednesday, Masters family issued a statement thanking investigators, prosecutors and medical personnel who treated Masters. When Matt went back to work, he was eager to discuss the Taser with his colleagues. Am I under arrest? Runnels seemed to reconsider using the Taser, holstered it, and then reached into the car, attempting to pull Bryce out. 2. The video above shows Runnels approaching a pulled-over vehicle being driven by Bryce Masters, then 17, who was on his way to play video games with a friend. Ebola has killed about 9000 people in total; Republican governors kill 23,000 people PER YEARby refusing federal support for Medicaid, a story ignored by traditional media. 1. Two years ago, for example, it upheld the denial of qualified immunity to an officer who slammed a nonthreatening, nonviolent woman to the ground, breaking her collarbone and knocking her unconscious. The Taser did this. He was transported back to the moment when everything changed, and despite how hard his life had become, he thought he would do it all the same way again. Until that point, the Masters had no idea how long Bryce had actually been tased. How he dragged the near-unconscious boy away from the dashcam and then callously dropped him so that his face hit theconcrete sidewalk is sickening. Runnels had resigned from the Kansas City department under threat of termination in 2010. No one said anything about avoiding the chest, and this was five years after Taser International officially changed the target area and with an incident involving a local officers child providing a perfect example of what could happen. Youwere are the greatest. Roughly every 30minutes that night, Bryce would forget what happened to him. I remember thinking, Oh my God. Former Officer Timothy Runnels was sentenced last week to four years in prison over the September 2014 incident. Some of Bryces memories are made and erased overnight, and sometimes more frequently. In the video, Runnels refers to Bryces August arrest, which was being contested by the Masters. Mrs. Runnels was born October 28, 1937 in Bland County, Virginia to the late Cornelia (Burkhead) and Walker Pauley, and died Friday, December 6, 2019 at her residence. If Runnels was trained when he was hired in 2007, unless he was adequately re-certified with updated information about the risks of cardiac arrest, it was likely he and Matt had the same false understanding of the weapon they both carried. Runnels faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for his conviction for violating the minor's civil rights. He achieved his Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Houston, and afterward pursued his chiropractic Doctorate at the Texas Chiropractic College. Of all those involved in this case, I was most interested in the reaction of Bryces dad who is himself a cop. It just may be too late. But his anxiety those first few months made such issues much more debilitating. Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. You need to get up here.. Matt wasnt sure what this was supposed to mean and wasnt present when the incident happened, but word spread quickly about the foul-mouthed cop who was written up on the spot for nonchalantly using a racial slur during a gathering of officers. They turned the ventilator off, but left the breathing tube in just in case Bryce failed to breathe on his own. Do you feel sorry for him? Stacy once asked, referring to Runnels. I get a lot of sympathy from my black cop friends, like, this is what weve been saying about cops for a long, long time. Hes going to prison. Warning: This video contains graphic scenes of police violence. Cops do make bad decisions. Timothy Runnels, a 32-year-old former Independence, Missouri, police officer SENTENCED to 4 years in Federal Prison. Copyright 2023 Runnels seemed to ignore all this and, as the video shot by a neighbor makes clear, he put his rightfoot onto Bryces back. 2. Runnels orders Masters to exit his . He had been assured by instructors, trained by Taser International, that the electric current discharged by the Taser would not cause death. They still didnt know how bad the damage was, but at least Bryce recognized his parents. Posted by 6 days ago. Later, a different spokesperson would tell KCTV that the use of the Taser was in policy. Runnelss name wasnt initially released. They couldnt believe he was up walking in less than a week. All right, fine, fuck it, he said, aiming the Taser at Bryce and pulling the trigger. The Masters could see Bryces heart heaving up and down on the screen, an indication that he was going through cardiac arrest. While most of the 15-minute session was spent on updated legal information, and situations in which Taser use was not advised, there was no mention of potential cardiac risks. Runnels faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for his conviction for violating the minor's civil rights. One woman looked down and covered her eyes with her hand. The more they discussed the question, the more sobering it became. One punctured his chest, to the right of his midsection. When they opened his hospital gown, Matt saw two bright red marks that looked like bee stings on Bryces body. A man said, Oh, my god. A police officer with the Kansas City Police Department quickly brought his fist to his mouth, turned to the man next to him, and whispered, Jesus. Even those sitting behind the defendant a few friends, his wife, his family gasped, as if the recordingrevealed a truth about Runnels they had never considered. President Obama signed into a law a small piece of our bill in December 2014. Instead of putting faith in my own son, I put faith in that Runnels was a cop and that he knew what he was doing, and that he was a professional., Matt had such visceral feelings of loyalty and camaraderie toward his fellow officers that hed previously been comforted by the assumption Bryce was somehow at least partially culpable for what happened to him. We need White people of good conscience to join the fight against police cruelty and unlawful behavior. Bryce Masters used his mobile phone to record his encounter with Officer Timothy Runnels on September 14, 2014. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $6.5 million jury verdict against former officer Timothy Runnels over the confrontation with Bryce Masters during a traffic stop in 2014, KCUR . The video, from the September 2014 incident, shows former police officer Timothy Runnels approaching the vehicle. He would feel his mouth and turn to his parents. After handcuffing him, Runnels lifted the unconscious teen by his arms and dragged him several feet to a driveway before dropping him face-first onto the concrete, fracturing four teeth and causing abrasions on his face. Copyright 2023 Police1. As he looked Bryce over, Matt casually floated his positional asphyxia theory. While Taser International has updated its material to mention potential cardiac risks (as well as several other ways the weapons can cause injury or death), Matt sees that as mere fine print that neither the company nor many officers take seriously. Keeping these facts in mind, Matt thought back to his training, and Bryces case. From The Intercept : I still get what cops go through, the decision-making process, the damned if you do, damned if you dont process, Matt said. As Fox 4 Kansas City reported, Masters nearly died after he lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE. By Wednesday evening, the medical staff was ready to give Bryce a crucial test. He didnt understand why we wanted to go so early, and he threw a fit, Matt said. During the otherwise unobjectionable story, Runnels said he and his friends decided to switch tactics and try nigger hunting instead. Former Independence, Missouri, Police Officer Timothy Runnels will spend 48 months in jail for a 2014 taser incident that left a teen in a coma after pleading guilty on June 1 to federal charges he violated the constitutional rights of a minor while in custody.The US Department of Justice released dashcam video of the September 14, 2014, arrest of Bryce Masters, then 17 years old, on June 6 . On April 5, for instance, Matt and Stacy wanted to surprise Bryce with tickets to a Kansas City Royals game. Since then, he has trained at the Moody Health Center, become . He wasnt just alive he was demonstrating awareness. He told Bryce that the officer shouldnt have gone into his pockets and the search was likely illegal. Now, he thought about his son. Although the minor suffered cardiac arrest and facial injuries, he survived the incident due to timely medical treatment by medical personnel at the scene and at the hospital. Bryce let out a piercing scream. Dozens of visitors, including many of Matts colleagues from Kansas City, descended on the hospital to offer support. Officer Timothy Runnels stopped Bryce Masters, 17, in the Kansas City suburb of Independence, Missouri, on Sept. 14, 2014 because Masters was . The new officer referred to Bryce, lying there stationary. Bryce was showing acute signs of decorticate posturing, a symptom of severe brain damage. The other punctured several inches below and slightly left of his heart. Taser International did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Then hell get depressed at the idea that he needs to be reminded about something that just happened. Matt was surprised. This may be called Tools or use an icon like the cog. There were four counts total, two related to obstruction of justice and two related to deprivation of rights. Runnels said that 400 to 500 workers came in Monday to finish restoring power to the some 400 customers who were still without power Monday after the storm had initially knocked out electric . Circuit Court of Appeals found that the policeman, Timothy Runnels, had violated the teen victims right to be free from an excessive, prolonged use of a Taser. Police said Morgan was belligerent and fired first, while Morgan said police started firing as soon as they saw his gun, and denied firing a shot, the report notes. The audio kicked in at that point, and the cruisers door opened. These are classic signs of a brain injury., What Id seen with his posturing made me want to look away, Stacy said. His use of excessive force violated both the publics trust and his oath to uphold the law. The practitioner's primary taxonomy code is 111N00000X with license number 9478 (TX). In finding that Runnels was not entitled to qualified immunity, the 8th Circuit adopted a position that it has rarely taken in the past. Eventually, Bryce went back to sleep. He was recording the interaction with his cellphone. Dont give me that bullshit, he now thought. But in conversation after conversation, his fellow officers either doubted or were also surprised by Dr. Augustins theory. We will be needing your help. As part of his guilty plea, Runnels admitted that while he was employed as an officer of the Independence Police Department, he deprived the minor of his civil rights by deliberately dropping the minor face first onto the ground while the minor was restrained and not posing a threat to Runnels or others. Two years earlier, Masters, then a 17-year-old high school senior, was driving his car when Runnels pulled him over for a traffic stop. He was allowed to remain free on bond Tuesday and was given until Aug. 1 to surrender to federal authorities. Timothy Runnels, a 32-year-old former Independence, Missouri, police officer, sat at a large, rectangular defense table inside Courtroom 8B at the Charles Evans Whittaker Federal Courthouse in. Timothy Runnels electrocuted the teen for 23 seconds during traffic stop, more than four times longer than cops are . interacts online and researches product purchases BARRY H. RUNNELS, age 72, of Washington CH, passed away on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at his home. Bryce admits now that, given a potential lifetime of frustration, the thought crossed his mind. His fingers and toes were curled inward, and his arms bent at near 90-degree angles toward his chest. When the loud thud of the drop boomed throughout the courtroom, gasps echoed out. Lack of training? Today's story doesn't involve a Taser related death. The lesson, Matt, is that it shouldnt have to take the near killing of your loved onefor you to acknowledge the pain and suffering of your fellow man. Yet the defenses argument for leniency was based on the claim that Runnels had acted reasonably as an officer right up until the moment he dropped Bryce on his face. Runnels, who was fired from the Independence Police Department after his encounter with Masters, pleaded guilty in 2015 to a single deprivation of rights charge and was sentenced to four years in. Whenever you see these officers come out with a use of force, whether it be a shooting or a tasering or a whatever, there are phrases that always go in those reports, that weve been trained to put in there, Matt said. Other sources, such as an informal list known as Truth Not Tasers, put the figure at nearly 1,000. While we are pleased that Mr. Runnels was held accountable for his actions, no one really wins in this scenario. As the ambulance took Bryce to Centerpoint Medical Center, Matt decided to stay to make sure Independence investigators appropriately collected evidence, assuming Bryce would recover. Timothy Runnels was sentenced to four years behind bars for the 2014 tas Kos Media, LLC. Runnels told him to get up. One barb lodged in his chest and another in his abdomen. Yeah, I kind of do, he concluded. Young Bryce Masters is still recovering from the injuries he sustained at the hands of Timothy Funnels. His most vivid recollection was the intense pain coming from his mouth. As Stacy walked into Centerpoints trauma center, nurses ushered her to where Bryce was hooked up to a ventilator, still unconscious. A screen grab from a bystander video of Bryce Masters lying on the ground after being tased by Officer Timothy Runnels, Sept. 14, 2014. Bryce Masters awake at Centerpoint Medical Center, Independence, Missouri, Sept. 17, 2014. Matt believes Runnels should have never been hired by Independence after he resigned from Kansas City. Matt assumed cardiac arrest would be a prominent part of the conversation. INDEPENDENCE, Mo. Members of the Daily Kos group Support the Dream Defenders launchedfour ongoing projects: 1. I dont think Ill ever, ever be able to forget that., As hard as it was to watch, Bryce felt vindicated. (According to police spokesperson Capt. The Independence Police Department was hardest on him. Matt Masters and Stacy Masters at their home on June 2, 2016. He asked Masters to get out of the car, but the . He was arrested and charged. Our project forces those governors to out themselves, clapping them in a Catch 22. Then, to Runnels: Hes turning blue., Watching the video, Stacy was astounded. The clicking sound of the Taser shock began, followed by pulsating ticks of electricity shooting through copper wires and into Bryce. Funnels would have shot him outright and or the response team may not have been as thorough. He can recall family and friends coming in to offer their support, standing around his bed. According to the company, the preferred target area was changing for reasons that had more to do with the ineffectiveness of chest shots than any danger associated with them. The NPI number of Timothy Runnels is 1053314336 and was assigned on May 2005. He suffered brain damage and the road ahead will not be easy for him. A federal judge ordered that the. Matt consoled him and told him it was OK, but also said that he needed to apologize to his mom. Matt headed to jail and posted Bryces bail. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. A friend at the Independence police station called Matt to tell him his son had just been arrested. 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