The St Petersburg chief of police announced that he has fired an officer who used his stun gun four times last year on an elderly panhandler in a wheelchair who was “not resisting with violence”.
The incident unfolded on 21 June 2021, when Officer Matthew Cavinder and his partner were called to a gas station after the owner complained about Timothy Grant, 64, panhandling at the location. Upon arrival, the officers realised Mr Grant had five outstanding warrants and attempted to arrest him.
He refused to put his hands behind his back while sitting in a wheelchair. At that point, body cam footage shows that Cavinder took out his taser and shocked Mr Grant four times, though he did not deploy the stun gun’s prongs.
Chief Holloway on Thursday said he had personally watched “that video over 20 times” and “still cannot explain to you why that officer went to his taser”.
“There was no de-escalation,” he said at a press conference announcing the officer’s dismissal. “He went right to his taser.”
The police chief added: “If we cannot control a subject like that, we have a problem.”
Such behaviour by officers, who are trained in de-escalation techniques, “will not be tolerated,” he said – pointing out that the incident was flagged not by Mr Grant or bystanders but by Cavinder’s superior, who got the ball rolling on an investigation.
“I want to comment my supervisor for seeing something wrong and taking care of it,” Chief Holloway said.
He said Mr Grant had been informed of Cavinder’s misconduct; the 64-year-old remains in custody following his arrest on the outstanding warrants.
