BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) - A deputy used a stun gun to control an intoxicated 13-year-old girl who kicked and scratched two nurses at a hospital, officials said.
April Rene Burleson, who is 4-foot-9 and weighs 90 pounds, had a blood alcohol level of 0.175 percent and was under the influence of marijuana and the prescription drug Xanax, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
``You have to understand, she was lashing out, kicking and scratching,'' sheriff's spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi said. ``She was acting like an adult who needed to be restrained. Just because she's 13 doesn't mean she can't harm somebody.''
Burleson was picked up on a loitering charge while walking on the street before dawn Thursday. She was first brought to her mother, who agreed to have the girl medically cleared at Lee Memorial Hospital before being processed.
According to sheriff's reports, Burleson was combative with Deputy Chad Edwards before they reached the hospital, then screamed at the hospital staff and injured the nurses and Edwards.
Burleson was shocked with a Taser stun gun in the chest, then held in restraints during her exam, deputies said.
The teen was charged with loitering, disorderly public intoxication, battery and resisting an officer.
The safety of stun guns, used by more than 6,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide, have been the subject of national debate. Amnesty International found 13 Taser-related deaths in the United States and Canada in the first three months of 2005, compared with six during the same period last year.
Arizona-based Taser International says studies show the weapons are safe.
April Rene Burleson, who is 4-foot-9 and weighs 90 pounds, had a blood alcohol level of 0.175 percent and was under the influence of marijuana and the prescription drug Xanax, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
``You have to understand, she was lashing out, kicking and scratching,'' sheriff's spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi said. ``She was acting like an adult who needed to be restrained. Just because she's 13 doesn't mean she can't harm somebody.''
Burleson was picked up on a loitering charge while walking on the street before dawn Thursday. She was first brought to her mother, who agreed to have the girl medically cleared at Lee Memorial Hospital before being processed.
According to sheriff's reports, Burleson was combative with Deputy Chad Edwards before they reached the hospital, then screamed at the hospital staff and injured the nurses and Edwards.
Burleson was shocked with a Taser stun gun in the chest, then held in restraints during her exam, deputies said.
The teen was charged with loitering, disorderly public intoxication, battery and resisting an officer.
The safety of stun guns, used by more than 6,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide, have been the subject of national debate. Amnesty International found 13 Taser-related deaths in the United States and Canada in the first three months of 2005, compared with six during the same period last year.
Arizona-based Taser International says studies show the weapons are safe.
