According to records obtained by The Associated Press, Michigan State Police tried but failed to suspend a trooper for his use of a stun gun months before he fired a Taser at a teenager who crashed an all-terrain vehicle and died. Mark Bessner is charged with murder in the death of 15-year-old Damon Grimes, but it wasn't his only incident involving a Taser.
State police wanted to suspend Bessner for 10 days for firing his Taser twice at a handcuffed man who was running away in 2016. But an arbitrator said there was no "just cause" for discipline. In 2014, Bessner fired his Taser at a suspect who was handcuffed.
He agreed to a five-day suspension, records show, but four days were eventually dropped. Bessner was charged last week with second-degree murder in the August death of Damon Grimes.
