* (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) *
Collegedale, Tennessee — The Collegedale Police Department have concluded that an excessive force claim filed against one of its officers is 'unfounded," and that Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston wrongly chose to involve the U.S. Department of Justice in the matter. On March 10, Officer Evan Driskill used a Taser on Delane Gordon in an arrest during a traffic stop. Gordon and his attorney questioned why he was stopped and why he was tazed. Collegedale officials say that Officer Driskill asked Gordon multiple times for identification and he refused. That’s why he was arrested. They say that the officer only used the Taser after Gordon emphatically refused to comply, many times.
The full video shows that Officer Driskill properly identified himself and the reason for the stop. Gordon was argumentative and immediately asked the officer for proof of his stop, as well as his supervisor. The officer correctly advised Gordon to argue his objection in court. Officer Driskill asked Gordon for his identification 5 times, but Gordon refused to hand the officer his information and the officer made the appropriate decision to arrest the driver for failing to identify himself. The officer opened the driver’s side door to make the arrest and ordered Gordon from the vehicle five times before transitioning to his Taser. The officer drew his taser and ordered the driver out of the car eight more times before holstering his Taser in an effort to de-escalate.
The officer returned to hands-on with the driver and ordered him five more times to exit the vehicle, injuring his own leg in the struggle. It was only when Gordon emphatically stated “No!” to the officer’s many orders, that Officer Driskill made the decision to deploy his taser to gain compliance and effect the arrest. After using the Taser Officer Driskill had to order Gordon ten more times out of the vehicle. Once Officer Driskill finally gained compliance the use of force was immediately ended, and Gordon was safely handcuffed. Gordon was moved to a seated position to prevent positional asphyxiation and to await the arrival of other officers and paramedics.
Attempting to couch the incident as a matter of racial discrimination, Gordon’s attorneys claimed during a March 18th press conference that Gordon had no background or record of involvement with law enforcement, and previous to this incident had “no interaction with officers.” In fact, Gordon has had multiple interactions with law enforcement over the years. Since 2014 he has been stopped and questioned by Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, Murfreesboro Police, Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, and the Collegedale Police Department just 2 months prior to this incident. In 2017, Gordon was a suspect in a domestic assault in Murfreesboro.
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