Police in Oklahoma have released body camera footage showing an officer using a Taser-like device against a woman seemingly intent on destroying her local Taco Bell.
According to the Oklahoma City Police Department, 52-year-old Zette Lea Madden was arrested on January 30 on three counts: (1) robbery in the first degree; (2) robbery with a dangerous weapon; and (3) destruction of property.
Minutes before 8 a.m., police received word that a woman was smashing up a Taco Bell off I-35 and chasing employees around with a tire iron.
An employee at the location apparently told police that the woman, later identified as Madden, approached the Taco Bell on foot and proceeded to use the tire iron to destroy the drive-thru window display before tearing into the drive-thru window itself, breaking both entry doors and moving inside to destroy cash registers while shouting at cashiers to hand over the money.
When police arrived, Madden was standing in the foyer. An officer described her use of the tire iron at that point as “short, stabbing motions” and said he feared for the safety of the employees inside.
In the video, an officer can be heard demanding Madden “drop the bar,” repeatedly. In turn, she repeatedly says “no” and the officer slowly moves forward–until Madden opens the door and the going-nowhere exchange continues.
As the officer nears the end of his patience, Madden says something about her alleged theft of hundreds of dollars–including an expletive deleted in the released footage. At this point, the officer is in electroshock range of the tire-iron-wielding woman. Then, he fires, striking her. She falls and screams and is quickly arrested.
According to Taco Bell employees, Madden lives in a car nearby and had previously only given the fast food restaurant trouble for the occasional theft of soda pop.
A police officer tasered this woman who smashed the front doors of a Taco Bell. pic.twitter.com/9a8aycrGoA
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) February 2, 2018
[image via screengrab; video courtesy Oklahoma City Police Department/LiveLeak]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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