EDMONTON - An Edmonton police officer testified at his disciplinary hearing that he used a Taser on a teenager six times, not eight.
Const. Mike Wasylyshen faces two counts of unlawful or unnecessary use of authority and three counts of insubordination over the 2002 Tasering.
The hearing has heard 16-year-old Randy Fryingpan was passed out in the back seat of a car that police thought might have been stolen and that he was shot with a Taser eight times in a little over one minute.
However, Wasylyshen testified Monday that Fryingpan was not passed out and would not exit the vehicle or co-operate with police.
He says Fryingpan "backhanded" him before slamming the car door, and he accidentally Tasered himself once as the two struggled.
Bob Wasylyshen, the constable's father, was chief of police at the time and ruled that no officers involved in the Tasering should face a disciplinary hearing.
However, Alberta's Law Enforcement Review Board said that no evidence was presented to justify the use of a Taser and recommended Const. Wasylyshen be charged.
