Tased and Confused

The Taser has been in the news a lot locally recently. But I think we can stop talking about it now because the Taser has been rendered obsolete by sophisticated countermeasures.

PEORIA — A man evaded police Friday evening by deflecting Taser probes with his ball cap.

An officer saw the man put two blue plastic tubs in his cart at Kroger, 9219 N. Lindbergh Drive, about 5:30 p.m. and then fill one tub with about $400 worth of powdered baby food formula. He set the other tub down and walked out of the store without paying, according to Peoria Police Department reports.

The officer followed, approached the man, identified himself and told him to stop walking. The man shook his head, left the cart and walked away. When the officer told him to stop or be tased, the man continued to walk while looking back at the officer.

The man then took off his white ball cap as the officer pulled out his Taser and turned it on. As the officer put the red laser dot on the man’s chest and again asked him to stop, the man turned sideways and began to run. When the officer fired the Taser, the man threw his cap at the probes and deflected them.

And the guy got away. Cops need to be aware of and better prepared for ball cap countermeasures. Can Tasers with ball cap piercing probes be far behind?