THE INVESTIGATORS: 67-year-old man tasered while handcuffed in police custody details alleged attack
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Port Allen man who was tasered while in police custody is sharing his side of the story. He spoke only with the 9News Investigators about the alleged attack, saying he is outraged and hurt but that he wants to make sure the officer involved is held accountable.
RELATED: THE INVESTIGATORS: 67-year-old handcuffed, in back of unit when officer allegedly tased him twice
Izell Richardson, Jr. is furious at how he says Port Allen officer Nolan Dehon, III treated him last month.
“They need to clean this town up. I’ve been here 67 years and I’m sick of it,” said Richardson. “Something’s got to be done.”
The 67-year-old says he was breaking into his own home on Avenue C in Port Allen after losing his key when police showed up. The moment officer Dehon got there, Richardson said things went downhill fast. He claims the officer cursed at him and got aggressive immediately.
“He came and attacked me and called me all kind of bad names and told me ‘shut your damn mouth’. He said ‘if you don’t shut up I’m going to tase you’,” said Richardson.
Richardson claims the officer used his taser on him more than once and that he was threatened throughout the entire ordeal. Arrest records obtained by the 9News Investigators seem to match Richardson’s account, showing Dehon allegedly used his taser on the man two times within a ten-second timeframe. The man was handcuffed and in the back of a police unit at the time. Richardson says he started screaming for help and that was the last thing he remembers before being rushed to the hospital in the back of an ambulance.
“He said ‘if you holler one more time then I’m going to pop you again’ and he put it right to my heart and it went pow and I went out,” said Richardson.
Last week the Port Allen city council voted to delay a hearing to decide the officer’s fate and he continues to be on unpaid leave from the department.
The man who says he was attacked by the officer tells WAFB’s Scottie Hunter he wants action in the case so that something like this never happens again.
“These bad cops got to go,” said Richardson.
Arrest records show the encounter was captured on police body camera video but it’s unclear if and when that video will be made public. The hearing to decide whether officer Dehon will remain employed by the Port Allen Police Department is set for Wednesday, May 5, 2021.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2021 WAFB. All rights reserved.
