McAlester, OK – Nakina Williams was reportedly tased at point-blank range in the chest while she was being detained at the Pittsburg County Jail for public drunkenness. An officer reportedly used his taser gun on Williams because she was being unruly. Williams is claiming that her civil rights were violated when an officer supposedly used excessive force. She is currently suing the city of McAlester for $2 million.
Officer Sterling Taylor-Santino plead not guilty on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, NewsOK reports. The report filed in the case stated that Nakina Williams believes that officer Taylor-Santino attempted to cover up the severity of the taser gun blast in the required use of force reports, The Blaze notes. The officer allegedly did not note in the filing that Williams was handcuffed when tased in the chest.
Video surveillance footage from the Pittsburgh County Jail shows that Williams was in handcuffs at the time of the tasing. Jeremy Beaver, Williams’ attorney, maintains that police officers should not have “yanked” the taser barbs from her chest. Beaver had this to say about the incident:
“They were supposed to take her to the hospital to remove those.”
According to NewsOK , Taylor-Santino is accused of having instigated a “disproportionate” number of violent conflicts with police suspects. Nakina Williams prior arrest include other incidents of public intoxication, giving inadequate care of her children, and for possession of a controlled substance. Officer Stering Taylor-Santino is still currently working for the McAlester Police Department in Oklahoma , but was suspended for two weeks without pay after the tasing incident.
