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Video Shows Florida Highway Patrol ‘Excessive Force' Taser Incident in Florida Keys

Video showing a Florida Highway Patrol trooper using a stun gun during an encounter with a 59-year-old man in the Florida Keys that was later found to have been excessive force was obtained by NBC 6.

The video shows the Feb. 14 encounter between Trooper Eloy Arias and motorist Marc Freedman, who was shot with a Taser not once but three times.

"Come out of the car, come out of the car or I am going to Tase you," Arias told Freedman after pulling him over.

"My hands are...don’t Tase me," Freedman responds.

Freedman was pulled over when one of the lanes was shut down. Arias believed he was behaving erratically and he ordered Freedman to come out of his car multiple times. But it’s what happened after Freedman got out of the car that has state investigators saying Tasing him multiple times was excessive force.

The video shows that while Freedman is on the ground, Miami Dade Officer Christian Huete handcuffs him. The report NBC 6 obtained done by the State Department of Motor Vehicles Inspector General concluded that the allegation that Arias used excessive force is sustained.

Freedman is heard asking the trooper not to Tase him again in the video.

"Please don’t Tase me, remember this," Freedman is heard saying.

"You’re gonna get Tased again. If you don’t follow my orders, you are gonna get Tased again. That’s plain and simple, that’s very simple. You understand that?" Arias responded.

"Yes, I understand sir," Freedman said.

Before Freedman is placed in the vehicle another law enforcement officer is heard talking to him.

"We’re gonna stand you up and put in that (expletive) car. You (expletive) twitch you gonna get worse that a (expletive) Taser," he said. "Just stand your happy (expletive) up.

Freedman is seen being placed face down in the car first, then told to turn over and relax.

But the investigators' report shows that when Arias felt Freedman was not complying with his orders and resisting him 19 minutes after being Tased the first time, he was Tased again, twice Tased in the same minute with the Taser in its stun mode.

Freedman was given medical attention. One FHP supervisor said he thought Arias did a poor job deescalating the situation due to Freedman’s age and the additional officers present.

“I had a firm grip on his arm, he wasn’t going anywhere. I don’t recall him trying to pull away from me," Monroe Deputy Edward Askins told investigators, according to the report. “I don’t know...kinda felt like this was a lot of unnecessary drama here for nothing."

NBC 6 asked FHP Tuesday about any disciplinary action or retraining for Trooper Arias but has yet to hear back. Freedman is home with his family in New York and NBC 6 spoke to his wife who didn’t want to comment.

Ultimately, Freedman was Baker Acted and sent to a mental health facility and not arrested.

The report said that the trooper cut his hand and used the Taser in part because he was not sure how badly he was injured. Arias made clear he warned Freedman numerous times.

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