The following article below was found in the local Fayetteville, North Carolina, newspaper. Thanks to James Halpin for bringing this story to light. Tasers have become much more frequently used by police over the years. Some would argue they are used too often. In this case, the woman was clearly creating a disturbance and not following police commands. Nevertheless, given the known dangers of tasers, it might be safer for all involved to get her out of the car the “old fashioned way.” As the story shows, this suspect eventually came out of the car but was “flopped out…like a fish.” She could have easily, and may actually have been, injured. In the past, people, while being tased, have suffered serious injury, including broken bones, heart attacks, and even closed head injuries. For a short period, the city of Charlotte actually banned all use of tasers. Sadly, they have started reusing a “new and improved” taser. Hopefully, police will use great care and considered judgment before subjecting non-violent suspects to this excruciatingly painful experience. If told by the police to do something, please do it. Do not argue with police on the street. That strategy never works out well. Instead, let us argue on your behalf later, in Court. Be Safe. Get Home.
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By James Halpin
Staff writer
Deputies used a Taser on a woman who wouldn’t surrender to them after she cut into a McDonald’s drive-through line and then refused to move her car without being served, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Evangeline Marrero Lucca, 37, of the 100 block of Snow Hill Church Road, pulled up to the window of the McDonald’s on Legion Road, near Black and Decker Road, on Friday afternoon and held up the line for about 20 minutes before deputies arrived, said Debbie Tanna, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.
Staff at the restaurant reported that Lucca drove her Ford Taurus to the pickup window, bypassing the order screen and payment window, and tried to order her food there, she said.
“She did not want to wait in line,” Tanna said. “They told her she had to go around and wait like everybody else did and place her order that way, that they weren’t set up at that window to take her order or take her money. … She wasn’t having any of that.”
The woman refused to move her vehicle and became confrontational with the employees, she said.
“When we arrived, she really got mad,” Tanna said.
Attempts to reach Lucca for comment were unsuccessful Friday.
Customer Anthony Rich said he pulled into the parking lot to order lunch and found a long line of cars at the drive-through. He said he got in line and waited, eventually getting up to the first window, where he commented about the long line.
An employee told him the woman was refusing to move, Rich said.
The employee told him the woman frequently comes to the restaurant and cuts in line, and that, “We’re not having it anymore, so we called the cops,” Rich said.
Lisa Powell, who owns the franchise for that McDonald’s location, said in a prepared statement that employees called deputies “after lengthy conversation with the customer” about why her actions were unsafe.
Rich said deputies soon arrived at the scene and ordered Lucca to get out of the car, but she refused. The deputies continued their orders for about 20 minutes, until they finally removed a young girl, he said.
“Two or three officers entered the car with her and started trying to forcibly drag her out of the car, and that’s when you could hear the clicking sound of the Taser one time,” Rich said. “They pulled on her a couple of times, and then they Tased (stunned) her again, and when they Tased (stunned) her the second time, she just flopped out of the car like a fish.”
Lucca was charged with second-degree trespassing. Social workers took custody of her 3-year-old child who was in the car, Tanna said.
Tanna said deputies are not allowed to use Tasers on a person who simply refuses to comply with orders without danger involved, but in this case Lucca was engaging in “threatening behavior.”
“Our top priority was making sure people weren’t hurt because we didn’t know if she was going to drive the car off and run over somebody,” Tanna said. “Then there was the baby in the car we were concerned about.”
The deputies performed a “drive stun” on Lucca, a technique that does not involve firing probes into the target’s skin, she said.
A drive stun involves removing the Taser cartridge and touching the weapon directly on the skin to create a “pain compliance effect,” according to the Fayetteville Police Department’s use of force policy. A drive stun is applied to pressure points on the surface of the skin and allows officers to restrain a suspect without full incapacitation.