Cops Light Man on Fire; Go Ahead and Laugh

Sometimes, a story is sad. Sometimes it's pathetic. Sometimes it's funny.

This story is all three.

Police in my hometown found a bad guy driving a motorcycle that didn't belong to him. When they tried to stop the guy, he took off with the cops in hot pursuit. He crashed the motorcycle and spilled gasoline all over his coat.

Then he ran.

The cops caught up to him and ordered him to stop, but he didn't.

They zapped him with the Taser gun. Since he was covered in gasoline, the spark from the Taser caught him on fire.

That's right; the bad guy burst into flames. I'm not kidding. Pause here and imagine the scene: cops chase this guy on foot for however long it took to get close enough for the Taser. They order him to stop between gasps of air since they've all been running too (insert donut comment here). He doesn't stop so they fire the Taser.

Pow! Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. Whoosh!

Cops were stunned at first, then they tackled the bad guy and ripped off his jacket. After a little patting, the flames went out and the cuffs went on.

This is by no means a rant against Tasers. They're great tools to bring bad guys under control without hurting them -- usually, unless they're ultra flammable. If he wasn't cruising around on a stolen motorcycle, running from the cops and crashing, he would never have gone full candle power. I don't know how you're supposed to respond to a story like this, but I laughed.

Go ahead; you can laugh, too.

• Burn Treatment
• Stop Drop and Roll
• Assessing Burns
• Cop fires Taser, suspect's jacket ignites

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