Youth Tased; Public Amazed; Questions Raised; Police Not Fazed

A Louisiana police officer shocked a handcuffed Baron "Scooter" Pikes nine times with a Taser after arresting him on a cocaine charge. But he stopped twitching after seven, according to a coroner's report. Soon afterward, Pikes was dead.

According to the CNN report, the arresting officer, who has since been fired, could end up facing criminal charges after medical examiners ruled it a homicide. Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, told CNN the 21-year-old sawmill worker was jolted so many times by the 50,000-volt Taser that he might have been dead before the last two shocks were delivered.

Officer Nugent is white; Pikes was black. His death led to demonstrations that drew several dozen people in Winnfield, where the population of about 15,000 is roughly half African-American.

But Winnfield police Lt. Chuck Curry said race "isn't an issue at all" in the matter. Sadly, it may be just plain stupidity-- just check out this quote from Lt. Curry:

"He done what he thought he was trained to do. At some point, something happened with his body that caused him to go into cardiac arrest or whatever."