Officer’s Taser sparks fire at gas station, leaving man with burns

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FORT MOJAVE INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. (AZFamily/Gray News) — A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer deployed a Taser at an Arizona gas station, sparking a fire that left a man with burns and nerve damage.

That is according to Chuck Coyl and cellphone video of the confrontation.

Chuck Coyl, who recorded part of the July 16 encounter on the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation, said he was recovering at home and will need more than a month of physical therapy.

Coyl has not been charged in connection with the incident.

Cellphone video captured part of the standoff between Coyl and the officer. In the footage, the officer asked to see his identification.

Coyl can be heard responding by asking what he is being arrested for, and the officer responds by saying he is not cooperating “for having committed a crime.”

Seconds later, the Taser is deployed, the phone drops, flames become visible and commands to get on the ground can be heard.

Coyl said he and a friend had planned to fish at the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge when an officer approached and told them they could not be there. Coyl said they left and drove to the gas station where the confrontation occurred.

Coyl said he was taken to the hospital for first- and second-degree burns after the incident. He also said that no officers have reached out to question him about what happened.

“Something told me, like a gut feeling to start recording, and I just started recording,” Coyl said.

Roy Taylor, who has more than four decades of law enforcement experience and studies when and how force should be used, reviewed the incident.

“It seemed to me there was an escalation of force without cause,” Taylor said.

Taylor noted that officers who are properly trained are taught never to use a Taser near any flammable environment. He also said the video does not appear to show the officer de-escalating the situation.

“He should be. That’s pretty much standard,” Taylor said when asked if he should have been trained in de-escalation tactics.

Taylor acknowledged that the video does not show what led up to the incident from the officer’s perspective.

The U.S. Department of the Interior confirmed a Taser was deployed, writing in an email, “Consistent with DOI policy, all such deployments undergo review, and we are unable to comment further while that process is ongoing.”

Coyl said the confrontation was unwarranted.

“That was uncalled for. It truly was,” Coyl said.

Coyl maintained that he would have provided the officer with his license once he learned what he was being accused of.…Read more by Amy Cutler