Tasing Truants

After investigating a purported robbery that turned out to be high school kids at a school skipping party, Rialto, CA police tased one teenaged party goer as he tried to evade them:

Police spotted one kid hiding under a car.

"He was ordered to surrender, resisted and was eventually taken into custody after police deployed the Electro- Muscular Disruption Device (Taser)," the news release said.

Lt. Joe Cirilo, the department's information officer, said he wasn't there but was told that when the kid crawled out from under the car, he took a combative stance.

They tasered the school-skipper, he fell and hit his head on the pavement, and it knocked him unconscious. They took him to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton for treatment and removal of one Taser dart. The release says nothing about his condition, but Cirilo said he was fine.

So let me get this straight. I'm supposed to believe that, in just a few seconds, a kid went from cowering under a car to being a menace so great that an officer was forced to use a taser? Please.

Someday I'll stop being surprised at these brave officers who put tasing teens early on their list of options.