JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday addressed a video circulating on social media that shows the moment an officer accidentally struck his partner with a Taser during a struggle with a suspect.
According to an arrest report, Kheilan Haynes, 29, was pulled over late Saturday night after an officer said he ran a red light on Yellow Bluff Road near Oceanway.
Haynes pulled into a nearby Gate gas station, and the officer who pulled him over then called for backup, according to the report.
The officer said he told Haynes to get out of his black Jeep, and the officer was able to get one handcuff on Haynes’ left wrist, but things quickly went south.
As the JSO officer tried to turn Haynes around to cuff his right wrist, the officer said Haynes tried to pull away and began to struggle with both officers.
The video, recorded by a bystander, showed what happened next.
(Warning: The video below contains graphic language)
Haynes was taken to the ground, and while on the ground, JSO said, he refused to remove his hands from underneath his body.
Haynes was briefly put in a headlock before one officer stepped away and deployed his department-issued Taser.
The first deployment had no effect on Haynes, JSO said, so after Haynes stood up, the officer deployed a second time. But this time, the probes missed and inadvertently hit the backup officer in his backside.
The video, which has been viewed over 100,000 times on one Facebook post, shows the officer who was hit by the Taser freeze up and fall to the ground.
Haynes, who was not wearing shoes, then got up and ran off.
Other officers who responded to the area were eventually able to use a Taser against Haynes and take him into custody, JSO said.
Haynes, who was taken to UF Health for a medical evaluation, now faces multiple charges, including resisting an officer without violence, possession of fentanyl and possession of not more than 20 grams of marijuana.
News4JAX contacted JSO about the video, and the agency issued a statement, saying the officer who was hit by the Taser had minor injuries.
“The incident is unfortunate, but in the heat of the moment is always a potential while we are taking combative subjects into custody. Incidents such as this are always reviewed to ensure we are using the most appropriate techniques and force during an apprehension – this case is in this process as we speak,” a JSO spokesman said.
Haynes remained in jail on Tuesday, held on a $512,000 bond.
He is set to be arraigned on Aug. 15.
