Mom says girls abused in stun gun incident
By Dolly Butz and Lynn Zerschling, Journal staff writerrs | Posted: Tuesday, October 23, 2007
SIOUX CITY -- Outside Rollerama skating rink on Friday night, 13-year-old Sina Baker was told by police to stop fighting with another girl. She kept fighting, she said Monday, and saw a white spark. She felt a painful shock and fell to the ground.
She had been struck in the leg by a Sioux City police officer's electric stun gun, or Taser.
Sioux City Police Chief Joe Frisbie said Monday at a news conference that officer Robert Doenhoefer responded reasonably to a case of two sisters who were "out of control."
"This thing isn't about the Taser," he said, but rather about two girls who "refused to obey the officer's commands" to stop fighting.
Sina Baker's mother, Denise Kearnes, disagrees. She said Doenhoefer's actions were unjustified.
"My girls were abused and humiliated in front of the whole Rollerama," she said. "I don't appreciate that at all."
Kearnes and a group of supporters took her concerns to the Sioux City Council on Monday night. American Indian activist Frank LaMere escorted Sina Baker to the front of council chambers and asked the council to review the department's policies on use of Tasers. He also said the department needs to determine if the weapons are primarily used on people of color.
"If the vast majority of those tasered are Native American, then we have another issue," LaMere said.
Eight of the ten people who spoke before the council claimed undue force was used and that police target minorities. Two others said they were at the roller rink, at 4500 Stone Ave., Friday night and disputed the reports the others gave about what took place.
After listening to two hours of comments about the incident, Mayor Craig Berenstein pledged that the council would respond to requests for a report and evaluate the use of stun guns.
"We will work with Chief (Joe) Frisbie and his department and certainly work with all of you," Berenstein told the two dozen people who attended the meeting. "I will make myself available for meetings, as I am sure any of the council members will. First, we need to get the information."
Councilman Jim Rixner said he thinks city officials and police need to determine whether a policy is needed regarding the use of Tasers on minors and whether the department uses Tasers in accordance with national standards.
Accounts of incident conflict
During an interview Monday afternoon at her home, Kearnes said that at 7 p.m. Friday, she dropped her daughters, Sina and Jenna Baker, and their cousin off at Rollerama.
Sina, who took part in the interview, said she was skating around the rink and having fun until she accidentally stumbled over another girl's younger brother about 10 minutes before the rink was to close at 10 p.m.
"I was talking to someone, and then I didn't see him and I tripped over him," Sina said.
She said the boy's sister became angry and said, "Excuse you." The two girls started arguing. They turned in their skates and headed outside That's when tensions escalated.
"We started fighting," Sina said. "Then the cops pulled me off of her. I still had her by her hair, and I was kicking her in the face."
Sina said she was told to stop fighting but didn't. That's when officer tased her, she said.
Although she said onlookers told her she was tased five times, she said she remembers being tased only once in the leg.
"It stung really bad," she said. "I said, 'Ow,' and then I fell on the floor."
Kearnes said her other daughter, Jenna, 14, broke free from a woman holding her back and then jumped on the officer in an attempt to protect her sister.
At a news conference Monday, Chief Frisbie said two adults tried to intervene to stop the fight but told police they were kicked, beaten back and bitten by the "out of control" sisters.
Nikki Arnold of Sioux City said she was one of the adults who tried to help the officer restrain the sisters and was bitten by Jenna Baker. Her version of events conflicts with Sina Baker's account. Arnold claims Jenna Baker was the one who was tased.
"(Sina) was not the one who got tasered, it was the other one," Arnold said. "All those people that got up and spoke today for the Indians, none of them were there. None of them have the facts. None of them know what happened."
Arnold said she was picking her daughter up at Rollerama and witnessed the fight outside. She said she plans to press charges against Jenna for biting her.
Doenhoefer's report says he told Jenna numerous times to stop resisting. He said she was "kicking and punching" him.
Another girl, later identified as Sina, Doenhoefer reported, "jumped on me and was kicking me in the legs and hitting me in the chest." The report says he released Jenna and attempted to gain control of Sina and shouted numerous times to stop resisting. He said another citizen attempted to assist him by grabbing Sina. Doenhoefer said Sina was kicking and hitting him and the citizen.
That's when Doenhoefer said he took out his Taser, removed the cartridge and deployed a dry stun to Sina's leg.
Police try to make sense of 'confusing' situation
Frisbie said during a phone interview Monday night that he believes Sina was the one who was tased.
"There was a lot of biting and kicking and what have you going on," he said. "It's a little confusing right now, but eventually, hopefully, we'll have it all figured out."
Frisbie said he has "hard facts" about how events unfolded.
"If you don't want to believe the police and you don't want to believe the Native Americans, well, then, you have to go to the people who are uninterested, and that's the people who were bystanders who saw it, and they're telling it the same way the police department is," Frisbie said.
After being subdued, Sina and Jenna were arrested and taken to juvenile hall. Jenna, who is on probation, was in the Boys and Girls Home on Monday night, her mother said. Frisbie said charges of assault and resisting arrest are pending against both girls.
Frisbie said the other girl initially involved in the fracas was not arrested because she backed off when asked to by the officer.
Frisbie said at Monday's news conference that Doenhoefer used "a dry stun" on Sina's leg, which is less than a three-second jolt and not as severe a shock as can be applied.
"He reacted within the policy directives of the city of Sioux City," he said.
When asked whether using a stun gun on a young teen was standard practice, he said: "Have you ever tried to get a 13-year-old under control who doesn't want to? Good luck to you."
"The real danger here is by activists who want a cause," Frisbie said.
"We should care about these children, that we get them the necessary help to try to understand why this is happening," Frisbie said. "Why are they acting in such a violent manner? This is what we need to be focusing on. It shouldn't be about someone used a Taser."
Reporter Bret Hayworth contributed to this story.
Keeping track of Taser use
SIOUX CITY -- Sioux City Police Capt. Mel Williams, a certified Taser instructor, told the City Council on Monday that the city Police Department keeps close track any time an officer uses a stun gun.
"The device records every time the trigger is activated. As a matter of practice and policy, every time it is used, the officer has to turn it in so we can download the information into a computer."
Computer records show that Officer Robert Doenhoefer followed the proper procedure after he used a Taser on a teenage girl at the local roller rink Friday night, Williams said. "He tested it once at the beginning and had one three-second deployment. He did what we call a 'contact stun' so it was not for the full three seconds" and carried less of an impact.
Police Chief Joe Frisbie reported that Doenhoefer has carried a Taser for 2-1/2 years.
"He has used it twice -- once on a white male subject and once on this girl," Frisbie said.
-- Lynn Zerschling
She had been struck in the leg by a Sioux City police officer's electric stun gun, or Taser.
Sioux City Police Chief Joe Frisbie said Monday at a news conference that officer Robert Doenhoefer responded reasonably to a case of two sisters who were "out of control."
"This thing isn't about the Taser," he said, but rather about two girls who "refused to obey the officer's commands" to stop fighting.
Sina Baker's mother, Denise Kearnes, disagrees. She said Doenhoefer's actions were unjustified.
"My girls were abused and humiliated in front of the whole Rollerama," she said. "I don't appreciate that at all."
Kearnes and a group of supporters took her concerns to the Sioux City Council on Monday night. American Indian activist Frank LaMere escorted Sina Baker to the front of council chambers and asked the council to review the department's policies on use of Tasers. He also said the department needs to determine if the weapons are primarily used on people of color.
"If the vast majority of those tasered are Native American, then we have another issue," LaMere said.
Eight of the ten people who spoke before the council claimed undue force was used and that police target minorities. Two others said they were at the roller rink, at 4500 Stone Ave., Friday night and disputed the reports the others gave about what took place.
After listening to two hours of comments about the incident, Mayor Craig Berenstein pledged that the council would respond to requests for a report and evaluate the use of stun guns.
"We will work with Chief (Joe) Frisbie and his department and certainly work with all of you," Berenstein told the two dozen people who attended the meeting. "I will make myself available for meetings, as I am sure any of the council members will. First, we need to get the information."
Councilman Jim Rixner said he thinks city officials and police need to determine whether a policy is needed regarding the use of Tasers on minors and whether the department uses Tasers in accordance with national standards.
Accounts of incident conflict
During an interview Monday afternoon at her home, Kearnes said that at 7 p.m. Friday, she dropped her daughters, Sina and Jenna Baker, and their cousin off at Rollerama.
Sina, who took part in the interview, said she was skating around the rink and having fun until she accidentally stumbled over another girl's younger brother about 10 minutes before the rink was to close at 10 p.m.
"I was talking to someone, and then I didn't see him and I tripped over him," Sina said.
She said the boy's sister became angry and said, "Excuse you." The two girls started arguing. They turned in their skates and headed outside That's when tensions escalated.
"We started fighting," Sina said. "Then the cops pulled me off of her. I still had her by her hair, and I was kicking her in the face."
Sina said she was told to stop fighting but didn't. That's when officer tased her, she said.
Although she said onlookers told her she was tased five times, she said she remembers being tased only once in the leg.
"It stung really bad," she said. "I said, 'Ow,' and then I fell on the floor."
Kearnes said her other daughter, Jenna, 14, broke free from a woman holding her back and then jumped on the officer in an attempt to protect her sister.
At a news conference Monday, Chief Frisbie said two adults tried to intervene to stop the fight but told police they were kicked, beaten back and bitten by the "out of control" sisters.
Nikki Arnold of Sioux City said she was one of the adults who tried to help the officer restrain the sisters and was bitten by Jenna Baker. Her version of events conflicts with Sina Baker's account. Arnold claims Jenna Baker was the one who was tased.
"(Sina) was not the one who got tasered, it was the other one," Arnold said. "All those people that got up and spoke today for the Indians, none of them were there. None of them have the facts. None of them know what happened."
Arnold said she was picking her daughter up at Rollerama and witnessed the fight outside. She said she plans to press charges against Jenna for biting her.
Doenhoefer's report says he told Jenna numerous times to stop resisting. He said she was "kicking and punching" him.
Another girl, later identified as Sina, Doenhoefer reported, "jumped on me and was kicking me in the legs and hitting me in the chest." The report says he released Jenna and attempted to gain control of Sina and shouted numerous times to stop resisting. He said another citizen attempted to assist him by grabbing Sina. Doenhoefer said Sina was kicking and hitting him and the citizen.
That's when Doenhoefer said he took out his Taser, removed the cartridge and deployed a dry stun to Sina's leg.
Police try to make sense of 'confusing' situation
Frisbie said during a phone interview Monday night that he believes Sina was the one who was tased.
"There was a lot of biting and kicking and what have you going on," he said. "It's a little confusing right now, but eventually, hopefully, we'll have it all figured out."
Frisbie said he has "hard facts" about how events unfolded.
"If you don't want to believe the police and you don't want to believe the Native Americans, well, then, you have to go to the people who are uninterested, and that's the people who were bystanders who saw it, and they're telling it the same way the police department is," Frisbie said.
After being subdued, Sina and Jenna were arrested and taken to juvenile hall. Jenna, who is on probation, was in the Boys and Girls Home on Monday night, her mother said. Frisbie said charges of assault and resisting arrest are pending against both girls.
Frisbie said the other girl initially involved in the fracas was not arrested because she backed off when asked to by the officer.
Frisbie said at Monday's news conference that Doenhoefer used "a dry stun" on Sina's leg, which is less than a three-second jolt and not as severe a shock as can be applied.
"He reacted within the policy directives of the city of Sioux City," he said.
When asked whether using a stun gun on a young teen was standard practice, he said: "Have you ever tried to get a 13-year-old under control who doesn't want to? Good luck to you."
"The real danger here is by activists who want a cause," Frisbie said.
"We should care about these children, that we get them the necessary help to try to understand why this is happening," Frisbie said. "Why are they acting in such a violent manner? This is what we need to be focusing on. It shouldn't be about someone used a Taser."
Reporter Bret Hayworth contributed to this story.
Keeping track of Taser use
SIOUX CITY -- Sioux City Police Capt. Mel Williams, a certified Taser instructor, told the City Council on Monday that the city Police Department keeps close track any time an officer uses a stun gun.
"The device records every time the trigger is activated. As a matter of practice and policy, every time it is used, the officer has to turn it in so we can download the information into a computer."
Computer records show that Officer Robert Doenhoefer followed the proper procedure after he used a Taser on a teenage girl at the local roller rink Friday night, Williams said. "He tested it once at the beginning and had one three-second deployment. He did what we call a 'contact stun' so it was not for the full three seconds" and carried less of an impact.
Police Chief Joe Frisbie reported that Doenhoefer has carried a Taser for 2-1/2 years.
"He has used it twice -- once on a white male subject and once on this girl," Frisbie said.
-- Lynn Zerschling
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mee wrote on May 7, 2008 8:42 PM:
mee wrote on May 7, 2008 8:38 PM:
The other girl wrote on Nov 21, 2007 1:46 PM:
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