Glenrock Police Taser 76-year-old Man on Tractor

[WaTcHeR]

GLENROCK, Wyo. - Glenrock Police Chief Tom Sweet says two officers "probably didn't do things the best way" when they used a Taser on a 76-year-old man driving an antique tractor in a parade.

Sweet spoke at a packed town hall meeting Monday, nine days after Bud Grose was hit with a Taser during the town's annual Deer Creek Days.

The officers are on paid leave while state Division of Criminal Investigation agents investigate.

Mayor Steve Cielinski and most of the Town Council apologized to residents and asked for patience. Cielinski promised the findings will be made public.

"If we have to stand up and take it on the chin, we will," Cielinski said.

State investigator Tim Hill has said the two officers contend Grose disobeyed orders. Grose hasn't commented publicly, however, and investigators have not disclosed many details of what happened.

Sweet originally said it didn't appear any policies were violated.

Some at Monday's meeting called for the two officers to be fired. Several people who witnessed the event told the crowd police repeatedly shocked Grose with a taser.

"Those two were the most out-of-control officers I've ever seen in my life," said Scott McWilliams, a witness who said he was shoved by one of the officers. "These two guys got to go."

Mike Pyatt, a former Glenrock police officer, called on town leaders to make changes at the department.

"We will hold you accountable," he said.

Sweet, however, said he won't act before receiving the DCI report, expected by the beginning of next week.

"I don't want to take a knee-jerk reaction now," he said.

But Grose said a 9-year-old boy — the son of an acquaintance — was actually behind the wheel of the 1958 John Deere tractor while Grose sat on a fender regulating its speed and clutch.

Grose said the tractor was pulling a four-wheeled wagon that carried three women sitting on chairs inside and was near the end of the parade route when the incident occurred. He said he would not discuss more specifics until he speaks to his attorney.

Glenrock Police Chief Tom Sweet has placed two officers on paid leave and asked the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to investigate the incident, according to a department news release. Police said officers don't appear to have violated the department's policies and that no charges had been filed, but a review of pertinent policies and an internal investigation will be done after the state completes its investigation.

[WaTcHeR]

GLENROCK, Wyo. -- Officials in the small Wyoming town of Glenrock have upheld the firing of two police officers who chased and Tasered a 76-year-old man driving a tractor in a parade.

The Glenrock Town Council voted Monday night to uphold last year's terminations of Officer Michael Kavenius and Sgt. Paul Brown.

According to a state review of the incident, Bud Grose was shocked five times with Kavenius' Taser during Glenrock's annual Deer Creek Days Parade in August.

Grose was driving an antique tractor in the parade and disobeyed Kavenius' traffic command, police said. Brown pulled a police vehicle in front of Grose's tractor, and the tractor collided with it.

Neither former officer was present at the council meeting. A lawyer representing the two has said they violated no police policies or procedures and deserved to be reinstated.

"Sgt. Brown and Officer Kavenius are decent, hardworking men who have generously volunteered to the community and worked in the law enforcement establishment for years," Casper lawyer John H. Robinson said last year.

Grose didn't attend the meeting either but said in a telephone interview afterward he was grateful to the Glenrock community and the council. Glenrock has a population of about 2,300 and is about 25 miles east of Casper.

"It just kind of shows what people can accomplish when they hang together," Grose said. He said he's been consulting with a lawyer but hasn't decided whether he will sue over the incident.

The incident drew an angry mob, with many people shouting that police mishandled the situation, according to investigators' reports. It has since focused attention on the performance of Glenrock's seven-member police department.

"About everybody thinks it was uncalled for, it could have been handled strictly different," Grose said.

His son, Mike Grose, attended Monday's meeting and thanked the council for making what he called a hard but just decision.

Councilor Bruce Vinolla was among the three who voted to uphold the officers' firings. "As the process went forward, everything just kind of pointed toward the decision," he said after the meeting. "It just kind of made itself."

Vinolla said he believes many in the community were concerned that the situation would be swept under the rug. But he noted that the town called in outside law enforcement agencies to investigate, and said such things take time.

Glenrock Mayor Steve Cielinski and a fourth councilor didn't take part in the vote; the mayor was involved in the investigation, and the councilor had connections to people involved.

Glenrock Police Chief Tom Sweet said after the council vote that he had recommended the firings be upheld. He said the officers were put on administrative leave in August and terminated in September.

"It's been highly emotional for the community -- for everyone involved," Sweet said. He said he expects to have two new officers working by this summer.

"I just hope that the community will have confidence in and support the police department as a whole, and the individual officers as they're trying to do their jobs," Sweet said. "I think this incident kind of brought to light even bad things happen in small communities, and your officers have to be professional whether they're in Glenrock, Wyoming, or New York City."