http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/31202935/?GT1=43001
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Great-grandma dared cop to Tase her, so he did
Woman, 72, refused to sign traffic ticket; an argument, and then a zap
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 9:26 a.m. ET, Wed., June 10, 2009
First there was the college student who gave the language the immortal phrase “Don’t Tase me, bro!” before being zapped by police. Now, there’s the 72-year-old great-grandmother who told a cop, “Go ahead. Tase me” — and got what she asked for.
Kathryn Winkfein was stopped for doing 60 mph in a 45 zone in her pickup truck on a highway near Austin, Texas. After Deputy Chris Bieze finished writing the ticket, he gave it to her and asked her to sign it.
Winkfein refused. Bieze insisted, saying he would have to arrest her if she didn’t sign the ticket. When she wouldn’t sign, he opened the door to the truck and told her to get out.
Differing accounts
This all happened around 2 p.m. on May 11. But it didn’t become news until Winkfein told a local television station that she had been mistreated. The Travis County Constable’s Office alleged that she had been argumentative and profane. She denied the charge, telling a local Fox News reporter, “I was not argumentative. I was not combative. Every bit of this is a lie.”
In response, the constable’s office released the dashboard video of the arrest, which shows Winkfein using vulgar language and daring Bieze to use his Taser. According to the time stamp on the dashboard video, it was at least seven minutes from when Bieze told the elderly woman to get out of her truck until he finally hit her with 50,000 volts of low-amperage electricity and she fell screaming to the ground.
Winkfein has not commented since the video was released. According to the local Fox station, she has hired an attorney.
When Bieze tells her to get out of her truck, Winkfein says, “Take me to jail. Go on and take me to jail.”
“Step on out,” the officer commands.
The woman gets out of the truck and walks along the side of the road, close to the fog line separating the shoulder from the traffic lane.
“Give me the [expletive] thing and I’ll sign it,” she tells Bieze, but the officer has already told her she is being arrested. When Winkfein strays close to the traffic lane, the officer pushes her onto the shoulder.
“You’re gonna shove a 72-year-old woman?” Winkfein yells at him.
“If you don’t step back, you’re gonna be Tased,” Bieze says.
That’s when Winkfein said, “Go ahead. Tase me.”
‘I dare you’
Even then, Bieze did not use the Taser he had out and ready. He attempted to grab her, but Winkfein twisted away.
“Step back or you’re gonna be Tased, ma’am,” Bieze says again.
“I dare you,” she said.
Winkfein then decided she was leaving and tried to walk back to her truck.
“I’m getting back in my car,” she said.
“You’re gonna be Tased,” Bieze said, blocking her path.
“I’m getting back in my car,” she insists.
“No, ma’am,” he says.
That’s when he finally fired the Taser and Winkfein went down screaming.
“Now put your hands behind your back!” Bieze orders the woman, who has fallen out of the picture. “Put your hands behind your back, or you’re gonna be Tased again!”
Bieze finally took Winkfein into custody and charged her with resisting arrest.
Sgt. Maj. Gary Griffin of the Travis County, Texas, Constable’s Office told NBC News that Bieze acted appropriately.
“He mitigated this event safely, effectively and efficiently. Nobody sustained any injury,” Griffin said.
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