Todd Lappegaard, ex-cop who Tasered Rolando Ruiz, wants his job back (City Pages)

Todd Lappegaard, ex-cop who Tasered Rolando Ruiz, wants his job back:

The video released in November is pretty shocking. Rolando Ruiz can be seen standing still, with hands on the hood of a Minneapolis Police Department cruiser, when Todd Lappegaard stands behind him and Tasers him in the neck. In a flash, Ruiz can be seen falling to the ground...

Mpls. cop fired over Taser arrest wants his job back (Star Tribune)

Mpls. cop fired over Taser arrest wants his job back:

A Minneapolis police officer fired after a video showed him using a Taser to subdue a suspect wants his job back. The video showing officer Todd Lappegaard Tasering a man in the neck during an arrest in April made for disturbing television when it was released in November after the suspect sued Lappegaard and the Minneapolis Police Department. It shows the man standing in front of Lappegaard's police cruiser with his hands on the hood; a moment later, the man is falling to the ground, screaming, as Lappegaard jolts him with 50,000 volts of electricity...

Fired Cop Who Tasered Man Tells His Side (WCCO)

Fired Cop Who Tasered Man Tells His Side:

A Minneapolis police officer who was fired after dash-cam video showed him using a Taser on a teenager is telling his side of the story for the first time. Former Police Officer Todd Lappegaard told WCCO he feels he was "railroaded" by the police department because of the media coverage. He also said the video did not tell the entire story behind his confrontation with Roland Ruiz last November...

Minneapolis police officer fired after Tasering cooperative suspect (Star Tribune)

Minneapolis police officer fired after Tasering cooperative suspect:

A Minneapolis police officer accused of Tasering a compliant suspect to the ground has been fired from the force, a source close to the department said. Todd Lappegaard, who faces a federal lawsuit over the April 30, 2009, incident, sent an e-mail to many in the police department in the past several days in which he said he had been let go... The lawsuit stems from an arrest that took place shortly before midnight in which Rolando Ruiz, 18, was suspected of damaging a police cruiser parked at the Second Precinct on Central Avenue. The arrest, recorded by a video camera on Lappegaard's cruiser, began with Ruiz standing in front of Lappegaard's car with his hands on the hood. Lappegaard then places a Taser on Ruiz's neck and stuns him. "As plaintiff Ruiz slumped to the ground, Lappegaard held his knee on the plaintiff's back to prevent him from avoiding the electrical shock of the Taser device," the lawsuit reads. "Lappegaard held his free hand on the squad car hood to brace himself as he pinned Ruiz to the ground and continued shocking him." Along with the civil rights violations, the suit lists nine causes of action. Among them it cites a 2002 incident in which Lappegaard was driving a squad car that made contact with a sport utility vehicle driven by a woman fleeing police. She later drove the SUV off the street, hitting and killing a Richfield man who was jogging...

Cop Involved In Taser Incident No Longer With MPD (WCCO)

Cop Involved In Taser Incident No Longer With MPD:

A Minneapolis Police officer who was caught on camera using a Taser on a man who said he had already surrendered is no longer with the force. Sources confirmed to WCCO that Todd Lappegaard, who had already been involved and reprimanded once before for using deadly force before, was no longer working for the Minneapolis Police Department.

On April 30, 2009, Rolando Ruiz was arrested near the Minneapolis 2nd Precinct near Central Avenue... Video from Lappegaard's dashboard camera caught the scene. The video didn't show what happened before Ruiz was told to put his hands on the hood, but it did show Lappegaard use a Taser on the back of Ruiz's neck. Ruiz said he had already surrendered when Lappegaard used the Taser on him. He is suing the City of Minneapolis and Lappegaard for the sum of $400,000.

Mpls. taser suit headed to federal court (Star Tribune)

Mpls. taser suit headed to federal court:

A civil lawsuit over a Minneapolis police officer's use of a Taser on an 18-year-old is headed to federal court... Rolando Demetrio Ruiz sued last month in Hennepin County District Court over an April incident outside the 2nd Precinct headquarters in northeast Minneapolis. Albert Goins, a lawyer for Ruiz, has released video footage of the incident and has said Lappegaard was the officer who held a Taser to the back of Ruiz's neck for at least 15 seconds after the teen surrendered...

Man tasered by Minneapolis police sues (Star Tribune)

Man tasered by Minneapolis police sues:

The 18-year-old man who said a Minneapolis police officer used a Taser on him after his surrender filed a civil lawsuit Friday. The suit by Rolando Demetrio Ruiz, filed in Hennepin County District Court, names the city, Police Chief Tim Dolan, officer Todd Lappegaard and unknown officers. Ruiz's lawyer Albert Goins has released video footage of the April 30 incident and has said Lappegaard was the officer who held a Taser to the back of Ruiz's neck for at least 15 seconds...

Defendant alleging Taser violation pleads guilty (Star Tribune)

Defendant alleging Taser violation pleads guilty:

An 18-year-old man in a video that appears to show Minneapolis police using a Taser against him pleaded guilty Thursday to a gross misdemeanor for the incident that resulted in his arrest. Rolando Ruiz was charged with a felony count of first-degree damage to property in the April 30 incident outside the Second Precinct headquarters, on 19th Avenue NE. near Central Avenue. He pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor and was sentenced by Hennepin County Judge Robert Blaeser to 62 days -- which he already has served. He also was placed on two years probation and fined $50... In a video released this week by a lawyer for Ruiz, an officer appears to hold the Taser to the back of Ruiz's neck for 15 seconds. Chief Tim Dolan called the video "very disturbing" and has asked the FBI to review it. Ruiz claims he had surrendered before the officer used the Taser. In the video, his hands are on the hood of a car as an officer approaches him from behind. Ruiz screams and quickly falls out of the camera's view...

MPD chief asks for FBI review of Taser incident. (City Pages)

MPD chief asks for FBI review of Taser incident:

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan released a statement Tuesday after a Minneapolis man field a lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis for civil rights violations when an officer used a Taser on him during an arrest. The video of the incident shows the suspect, Rolando Demetrio Ruiz, standing calmly with his hands on the police car hood when the officer uses a Taser on his neck. Dolan said he is asking the FBI and the city attorney to review the claim, calling the video "very disturbing." The city attorney could consider criminal charges against the officer...

Mpls. police ask FBI to review taser use (Star Tribune)

Mpls. police ask FBI to review taser use:

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan is asking the FBI and the city attorney to review an 18-year-old man's claim that an officer used a Taser on him after he had surrendered. In a statement Tuesday, Dolan called the video, in which an officer appears to hold the Taser to the back of the man's neck for 15 seconds, "very disturbing." The FBI review will look at possible civil rights violations, while the city attorney will weigh possible criminal charges, he added...

FBI To Review Video Of Cop Using Taser On Man (WCCO)

FBI To Review Video Of Cop Using Taser On Man:

The FBI will be reviewing dash cam video of a Minneapolis police officer using a Taser on a man as a possible civil rights violation, according to a statement released by the Minneapolis police chief Tuesday evening. Chief Tim Dolan said the Minneapolis City Attorney will also review the case for possible criminal charges against the officer. On April 30, 2009, Rolando Ruiz was arrested near the Minneapolis 2nd Precinct near Central Avenue." ... (The officer) takes that Taser and puts it to the back of his neck and shocks him until he's incapacitated, on the ground, slumped before the squad car," said Albert Goins Sr., an attorney. Goins said the officers meant to hurt Ruiz. "It's clear that the only purpose for that officer's conduct was to inflict pain and inflict agony on Mr. Ruiz," said Goins.

The police officer who tasered Ruiz is Todd Lappegaard. Lappegaard was involved and reprimanded once before for using deadly force. Back in March 2002, Lappegaard was involved in a deadly chase. The SUV he was chasing ran off the road and hit a jogger. The jogger died at the scene.

Teen Tasered In Neck Talks For First Time (WCCO)

Teen Tasered In Neck Talks For First Time:

The video of him being tasered by a Minneapolis police officer has garnered an FBI investigation and national media attention. Eighteen-year-old Rolando Ruiz spoke publicly for the first time about the incident last April on Wednesday. Ruiz was arrested after he allegedly broke a window of an officer's personal car parked in the lot by the 2nd Precinct station in Minneapolis. In an interview, reporter Caroline Lowe asked Ruiz what he was doing in the moments just before Officer Todd Lappegaard tasered him. "You were never resisting?," Lowe asked. "Never. I didn't even move," Ruiz said, adding, "I didn't get a chance to say anything. He tased me in the back of my neck. I was falling. He kept it pinned against my back and pinned himself down against me with his knee on my back and hand against the car, almost like he was punishing me." ...

Man Claims Mpls. Unnecessarily Used Taser (KSTP)

Man Claims Mpls. Unnecessarily Used Taser:

A man is accusing Minneapolis police officers of excessive force after he said they unnecessarily used a Taser on him. He says dash cam video proves his claim and his is threatening a lawsuit... This is the third accusation of police misconduct backed by video tape made against the Minneapolis police department in less than three months. In August, Derryl Jenkins accused police of excessive force for an incident in February. Video showed six officers as they punched and kicked Jenkins during a traffic stop in February. In September, Nicholas Kastner alleged police misconduct for an incident in a downtown parking ramp in December 2008. Video of the incident showed a Minneapolis officer kicking him and then using a taser on him twice.

Raw Video: Mpls. Cop Tasers Man With Hands On Car (WCCO)

Raw Video: Mpls. Cop Tasers Man With Hands On Car (video)

MPD Chief Calls Taser Video 'Very Disturbing' (WCCO)

MPD Chief Calls Taser Video 'Very Disturbing' (video)

Rights violations alleged in Minneapolis tasing (Star Tribune)

Rights violations alleged in Minneapolis tasing:

Rolando Demetrio Ruiz, 18, has filed a notice of claim alleging civil rights and other violations in the April 30 incident. The notice cites the city, Police Chief Tim Dolan, officer Todd Lappegaard as well as other unknown and unnamed Minneapolis officers. The claim and video are the latest to raise questions about Minneapolis police conduct, especially in the use of force. In August, Dolan ordered all officers to watch video of a February incident in which six officers punch and kick a man face-down in a snowbank... The video, which includes sound, starts with Ruiz facing a car with his hands on the hood. An officer approaches from behind and places a Taser against the back of Ruiz's neck for 15 seconds. In the notice and in an interview, Goins identified the officer as Lappegaard...

Video Shows Mpls. Cop Taser Man With Hands On Car (WCCO)

Video Shows Mpls. Cop Taser Man With Hands On Car (video)

Video Shows Mpls. Cop Taser Man With Hands On Car (WCCO)

Video Shows Mpls. Cop Taser Man With Hands On Car:

The Minneapolis Police Department is again defending itself against accusations that an officer went too far during an arrest. Video given to WCCO-TV late Monday night shows a man with his hands on a squad car when an officer uses a Taser on his neck. Attorney Albert Goins is suing the City of Minneapolis on behalf of his client, Rolando Ruiz. They're asking for $75,000 and that the officer involved be reprimanded. The video given to WCCO starts only seconds before the Taser is used on Ruiz, not what led up to the incident. But in that time, no struggle can be seen before the officer used his Taser on Ruiz. What is seen is Ruiz with his hands on the hood of the officer's car. The dash camera of the squad car was rolling when the officer approached Ruiz with Taser in hand. "Takes that Taser, puts it to the back of his neck and shocks him until he is incapacitated on the ground, slumped before the squad car," said Albert Goins...