USE OF TASER TO GET SAMPLE OF URINE BEING INVESTIGATED

LANDO - A police officer twice used a Taser stun device on a drug
suspect who was restrained to a hospital bed because the man refused
to give a urine sample to medical staff, authorities said.

Antonio Wheeler, 18, was arrested Friday on a drug charge and taken to
an emergency room after telling officers he had consumed cocaine,
police said. Because Wheeler said he had used the drugs, Florida
Hospital officials wanted a urine sample. A police affidavit said
Wheeler wouldn't provide a sample on his own, so workers tried to
catheterize him to get one.

The police document said Wheeler was handcuffed to a hospital bed and
then secured with leather straps after he refused to urinate in a cup.
When medical staff tried to insert a catheter to get the sample,
Wheeler refused and began thrashing around, the affidavit said.

At one point, police officer Peter Linnenkamp reported, he jumped on
the bed with his knees on Wheeler's chest to restrain him. When
Wheeler still refused to let the catheter be inserted, Linnenkamp said
he twice used his Taser, which sends 50,000 volts into a target.

"After the second shock (Wheeler) stated he would urinate and calmed
down enough to be given the portable urinal," Linnenkamp wrote.

At the request of Police Chief Michael McCoy, the Florida Department
of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident. Linnenkamp is on
administrative leave. Wheeler was being held on $7,500 bail.

Linnenkamp, who has more than 18 years on the force, has no history of
disciplinary problems, said Sgt. Barbara Jones, a department
spokeswoman.

He has been relieved pending the investigation's outcome. Jones said
officers in such suspensions usually are paid.

In a Tuesday interview at the Orange County jail, Wheeler acknowledged
that he aggressively resisted efforts to insert the catheter because
he was scared it would hurt. He said the police officer told him the
catheter would be necessary if he wouldn't or couldn't urinate on his
own.

"I feel I was basically raped," Wheeler said.

Said Amnesty International USA spokesman Edward Jackson: "If this had
taken place in China, it would be an egregious violation of human
rights, and the public would be outraged.

"I hope that they don't allow the fact that it happened on U.S. soil
deter from the fact that this may very well be a case of torture."

Florida Hospital spokeswoman Melanie Trivento said in a statement
Wednesday that hospital officials wouldn't be able to comment on the
case until they have thoroughly reviewed it.

"This is a very unusual situation and we are examining all of the
circumstances surrounding the incident," the statement said.

Earlier, another hospital spokeswoman, Samantha O'Lenick, said she
could not speak specifically about the Wheeler case but said hospital
protocol calls for urine samples whenever patients say they have taken
drugs or alcohol.

Wheeler was being held on $7,500 bail on charges including possession
of cocaine with intent to sell, escape and resisting without violence.