by BRETT SHIPP / WFAA-TV
WFAA-TV
Allen Nelms is still recovering from the Taser injuries.
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Brett Shipp reports
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WAXAHACHIE — A Waxahachie man says police kicked in his door and shot him with a Taser gun. Allen Nelms says he hasn't received any answers since.
At its core, Waxahachie is a postcard picture of serenity and Victorian charm, but some say those in charge of keeping the peace have actually disturbed it.
Nelms, 52, said he is still recovering from an invasion that took place at his home five weeks ago.
It was 4 a.m. in the morning when he said he became overcome with a diabetic seizure. His common-law wife, Josie Edwards, called 911.
Officers were the first to arrive at the home located on 720 Perry. Edwards said she told them she needed medical help and Nelms said he stuck his head out the front door and said, 'We don't need the police."
That was when he said the officer called for back-up.
Nelms said he went back to bed and was lying down.
"Three cops come in," he said. "I think it was three, three different lights, and ordered me to get on the ground and roll over."
Nelms said when he started to move the officers zapped him with a taser twice, and possibly a third time, on his stomach and back.
Edwards, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, said she couldn't believe what was happening.
"I said, 'What are y'all doing to him?'" she said. "And I heard Al say, 'Oh, Oh,' just hollering real loud."
After he was hit by the tasers, paramedics arrived and tended to Nelms, and he said the officers left without explanation.
Nelms filed a formal complaint.
According to Waxahachie police policy, an "investigator is to contact the complainant," conduct a complete investigation to determine whether the allegations are "sustained" or "not sustained" and declare the officers "exonerated" or the complaint "unfounded."
But just three business days after the complaint was filed, Waxahachie police released their findings to Nelms declaring, "we have found that the officers were within our departmental policies" in subduing Nelms.
"The response that Mr. Nelms did receive is shameful," said Rodney Ramsey, an attorney.
Ramsey, a former Waxahachie officer, said it's clear to him that a thorough and proper investigation was never conducted.
"I assure you it would have been more than a three day investigation had it been the bank president or someone from the other side of town or some non-African American citizen," he said.
In fact, the only record of the incident is a brief report of officers responding to a 911 hang-up.
The officer in charge of the scene that night, Sgt. Ricky Wilson, was also the subject of another recent internal investigation in which Wilson was accused of violating department policies and lying to cover it up. It was the major first blemish in Wilson's 14 years as a cop.
No one from the Waxahachie Police Department will comment on the incident citing pending litigation, but Nelms said their silence is not acceptable and he plans to hold them accountable.
"They are going to have to find some better answer than that," he said. "I need a better answer than that."
if the fire dept shows up instead.