Police Use Taser On Father Holding Two Day Old Baby In Houston

Sacramento law enforcement officers are not the only ones trained to use their Tasers in non lethal situations. William Lewis was tased by an off duty Houston, Texas police officer as he attempted to leave The Women’s Hospital with his new born daughter.

Officer D.M. Boling who was off duty but working security for the hospital was called to the scene when the parents attempted to leave the hospital allegedly without filling out the required paperwork. There is no indication the father had committed any crimes or that the officer properly identified himself.

The child fell from the father’s arms onto a concrete floor after being assaulted by the officer and his Taser. Mr. Lewis and his wife both called the use of the Taser inappropriate. The HPD of course called the action justified and cited a previous report of threats made by the father as being the justification. The HPD was unable to confirm whether the officer actually knew of the threats prior to the attack on the father, however the current information available indicates he did not.

According to Captain Dwayne Ready, a HPD spokesman, "If the father had just complied with the rules, there would have been no tasing" It appears that you no longer have to break any laws to be tased so be careful the next time you decide to chew gum in class or talk in the movie theater as you might just find yourself on the wrong end of an out of control police officer's Taser.

When I spoke with Captain Ready earlier today he stated that the father was listed as “unknown” on the birth certificate, was being “blusterous,” and the officer was responding to a kidnap alert by the hospital. The Women’s Hospital refused to either confirm or deny this kidnapping allegation.Captain Ready had previously stated that the officer was responding to a call that “someone was trying to leave with a baby without completing the proper procedures”.

Captain Ready did appear very willing to answer questions and provide information about this incident, and in my opinion this inconsistent statement was not intentional however it does leave this and other facts of the incident in question.

He also reported that the two officers on the scene had “worked out” a plan for Officer Boling to "tase" the man while the second officer would attempt to catch the baby, indicating that both officers were aware that tasing the father would be putting the baby at risk of slamming into the concrete.

The Baby was not in Immediate Danger

This also seems to indicate there was no imminent danger to the child as there was time to form a plan of attack against Mr. Lewis.

Mrs. Lewis stated, "He was holding the baby when the officer tasered him. My baby hit the concrete floor," who was recovering from a C-section. "When I went down to pick her up to take her to the neo unit, her scream was so loud and so bad I thought she was dying right there."

"The Taser instantly immobilizes the suspect and does not allow that person to cause any other danger or harm," Ready said. "If the officers had to engage the suspect in a physical altercation, neither could have kept an eye on the baby."

The mother said hospital pediatricians examined the baby after the incident and said she was fine, "but my baby, she had the shakes real bad. She's not as calm as she was before."

"My deal is that I broke no laws and maybe I broke some hospital policies, but I broke no laws," Lewis said. He and his wife said they were preparing to leave because they felt they were ready to leave, but "it was like you can't leave — no explanation, no reason," Lewis said.

Mr. Lewis' wife said "the only thing that endangered my child was that police officer who tased my child when Will was holding the baby ... I don't know how it went from us leaving to this." Mr. Lewis was charged with kidnapping but those charges were later dropped when the HPD realized they could not charge the father with kidnapping his own child. The current charge against the father is endangerment, and Mr. Lewis is free on a $5,000 bond.  Arraignment is scheduled for April 30 in State District Court.

Law Enforcement Should Be Trained To Use the Taser as a Last Resort

There was no indication that the father was going to harm the child, and this entire situation could have been avoided if the officers had explained to the father that they simply needed to confirm his identity and relationship to the child before allowing him to leave for the protection of the baby. The elevators had been locked down and there was enough man power to prevent the father from leaving without the use of “less lethal force”. The worst thing the father could have done was dropped the baby to the floor, something officers knew was going to happen when they used their Taser.  

These officers could have stood by ready to implement their plan if it appeared the father was going to hurt the baby but not actually taken action because tasing the dad was certainly putting the baby at immediate risk of injury. Future law enforcement training should teach officers not to use tasers except as a last resort to using their firearm.

Let’s all pray the innocent child suffers no lasting injuries and the family makes it through this troubling time unscathed.