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Family of man tazed with baby questions the force used by police

Posted at 8:29 AM, Aug 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-21 08:29:55-04

WESTLAND, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit police department is investigating the arrest of a combative father who may have still been holding his 2-month-old son when an officer shot him with a stun gun.

Westland police said in a statement Monday that the man grabbed his son after the officers told him they were arresting him for assault, property damage and outstanding warrants.

The man’s girlfriend and boy’s mother, Nichole Skidmore, told WXYZ-TV that her boyfriend was still holding their son when the officer fired the stun gun. But police say Skidmore was holding the child before the father was stunned.

In a video of the arrest posted on Facebook by neighbor Kelvin Williams, it isn’t clear if the man was still holding the boy.

Williams says the officers arrived at the home during a Friday night barbecue and asked who was fighting. He says the officers were told they had the wrong house and that the child’s father became agitated while talking to them.