Cop Uses Taser on 72-Year-Old Great Grandmother

Cop Uses Taser on 72-Year-Old Great Grandmother

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

MyFoxNY: A 72-year-old woman is pulled over for speeding, then tasered and sent to jail. Kathryn Winkfein says she drives to Austin about twice a month to do her shopping. But on a Monday afternoon, a Travis County Constable deputy pulled her over, on her way back to Granite Shoals.

"Due to being a construction zone, and workers being present," Pct. 3 Constable Richard McCain said, "it was 45, she was doing 60."

Winkfein admits she was speeding in the dangerous strip of Highway 71 and Bee Creek.

"He explained to her," Constable McCain said, "sign the ticket stub, it's not an admission of guilt. It's a promise to appear in court. She didn't want to. She said take me to jail."

That's when the officer says Winkfein exited her vehicle and didn't cooperate.

"She refused to get off the side of the road. He said to her, Ma'am, you're under arrest. She used profanity," the Constable said. He adds she got violent, and the officer used a taser on her.

Winkfein showed FOX 7 her taser scars.

"Here and here. Two places, side by side. It's unreal. It's like an electric shock," she said.

A shock Winkfein believes she didn't deserve.

"I wasn't argumentative, I was not combative. This is a lie. All of this is a lie, pulled away from him I did not," she said, reading the arrest affidavit.

The great-grandmother was taken to the Travis County Jail, where she was booked for resisting arrest and detention. She was released shortly after. Now, Winkfein has hired attorneys to protect her rights.

When asked if it was appropriate for the arresting officer to have used a taser, Constable McCain answered yes.

Read more hot stories Moms Are Talking About.

25 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

THIS MAKES ME ANGRY. This old, foolish woman thinks it’s OK for her to jump out of her car, stand in the road, scream profanities and flip off the cops, but it’s NOT ok for them to taser her if she’s acting like a hooligan? I bet if there was some 24 year old treating her the way she treated the cops she would have no exception to them using the taser on that person. This woman needs to realise the world doesn’t revovle around her. Though maybe she’s just senile and we’d all do better off if she had her liscense revoked. What an arrogant prat! She thinks she can just treat people like crap and then be above the law because she’s wrinkly and old? THIS DISGUSTS ME! Who the hell does she think she is?!??!

- kitty

Posted 06/03/09 05:41 PM

For arguments sake, lets say the cops version was 100% correct. I would have to ask where Travis County is recruiting their Constables from when they have to tazer a 72 year old woman to control her. Wow, an old woman screaming in the middle of the road. Why that’s a threat right up there with the Taliban. What strikes me as ironic is how any one in the US can even for one second doubt that they have completely and totaly lost the freedoms they are so quick to brag about. The war on terror is over and the US lost. I no longer travel to the US as it is no longer safe and it isn’t the terrorists that are the danger, it’s the government.

- P C Childs

Posted 06/03/09 06:29 PM

Just because she’s old doesn’t mean she’s incapable of becoming physical or belligerent, you know. Crazy old people have done crap to cops before. I don’t think we should automatically be saying, “Oh no, the poor old lady, don’t tase her!” If she deserved it, she deserved it. REGARDLESS OF AGE. If she was this weak, poor little thing, that’s one story. But clearly she doesn’t fall under that category.

- anonymouse

Posted 06/03/09 07:19 PM

Kitty, I couldnt say it better myself you are so right on.

- Mel

Posted 06/03/09 09:00 PM

Time to fire that bozo policeman. He has the brains of a chimpanzee.

- Doc Holiday

Posted 06/04/09 02:34 AM

Well just because she is old DOES mean that if she falls, breaking a hip could kill her, and since she got tasered twice in the chest, it means that if she had a heart problem - very common for people her age - she could have DIED of cardiac arrest instantly on the spot. As I recall the STANDARD punishment for a traffic ticket is a fine, not execution. Good grief folks - what do you think we did before tasers? What if your elderly mom or dad with the pacemarker gets tasered in the chest next?

- Kristi Gilleland

Posted 06/04/09 04:34 AM

If this was a younger man that jumped out of his car refusing the ticket using profanity at the officer would we be feeling sorry for him? This lady admitted to speeding through a work zone with no regards for the safety of those people working and then jumps out onto the highway not only is that putting herself at risk but as far as Im concened thats a threat onto the officer he did what he had to to get her under control. The laws the law weather your 72 or 27 if you cant respect it you deserve the consequence.

- Mel

Posted 06/04/09 09:31 AM

Nobody cares people! Get a life!

- You are all stupid

Posted 06/04/09 03:45 PM

Personally I would love to know what type of Tazer this man used to drop the lady so fast. Sometimes my Gam Gam doesn’t make me cookies when I want them and I wish I had a way of make her pay. This would be a great tool in my arsenal of weapons to compete with the Evil Gam Gam.

- Ura Jackaz

Posted 06/04/09 03:51 PM

Let’s say the lady was combative. Are we to believe that the officer couldn’t have found a better method to subdue her than using a taser? What threat was this lady to the officer? Maybe he could have grabbed her wrist and said “follow me”.

- Scott Simmons

Posted 06/07/09 12:49 AM

We can see who is telling the truth simply by watching the officers dash cam. I wonder where the tape is from that?

- Bill Bobaggins

Posted 06/08/09 08:29 AM

This is a very frightening thing that a police officer would do a thing like this to a 72 year old grandma and then be exonerate by his superiors is beyond belief. What is this country coming to? What a wimp of a man that could not handle a 72 year old woman that probably weighs less than a 100 lbs.

- Tom

Posted 06/09/09 01:10 PM

lousy old broad got the slice of humble pie she deserved- in the form of two electric darts to her chest and shoulder area. if she had died, it would have been her fault for her actions got her where she was. hell, she has one foot in the grave already.

- the dominator

Posted 06/09/09 03:48 PM

i thought tasers were supposed to be replacements for guns? who in their right mind believes this was a situation where the use of a gun/taser was appropriate??

- calilac

Posted 06/09/09 03:58 PM

She thought she was above the law…first by speeding,second by refusing to sign the ticket..third by resisting arrest. She got what she deserved. IF she would have signed the ticket,,,,,,,NONE of what came next would have happened. ITS the law….

- scottb

Posted 06/09/09 09:16 PM

This is Texas. They should have just shot her.

- Walter

Posted 06/09/09 09:23 PM

Amazing that some people think this woman DESERVED the abuse! You people are as sick as the one’s delivering the shocks, punches, and gunshots. It is a near-daily occurrence now a video pops up of some steroidal man beating, kicking, shocking or shooting a fellow human. And those are just the cases that ARE Captured by Camera! How many more times does it happen to some 13 or 15 or 18 or 24 year old child or young person? Until a few years ago, police were trained to not raise raise the level of violence - if someone were to swear or yell the officer was not trained to then pull a weapon and use it. But were a civilian to hint at deadly force, why then the officer was justified in defending himself and those around him. Now though we see power crazed nuts who get REWARDED with promotions for their acts - despicable, racist, cowardly and vicious abuses of the Constitution, human rights and police powers. But I guess it is to be expected. ALL Levels of government are treating the taxpaying working person like TRASH. Why should the police be any different. After all, they represent the same corrupt system that in reality is now in place to see to the needs of the Corrupt International Bankers who have bankrupted America.

- kpr

Posted 06/09/09 09:38 PM

oh my god. a violent old granny? give me a break. respect old people says the bible.

- Peter Mosh

Posted 06/10/09 01:43 AM

I can not believe the ignorance of these statements. How is saying that this woman deserved that in any way reasonable?Using on taser is supposed to be used as last resort by police officers. Why in the world would you need to taser someone for cursing at you? This is an absolute overreaction. A simply threat of further action could have sufficed. Yes, her age should have been taken into consideration. At 72, your body is becoming frail and the possibility of her being ignored was likely. I think this is a case of excessive force and borders on police brutality. I’m vary wary of law enforcement and for good reasons, this type of incident happens far too often than one would ever like to believe.

- ashley

Posted 06/10/09 07:20 AM

The 72 year old did not deserve to be tasered. The officer lost his temper, he should have known better. As people age they tend to lose control of their mouth editor and at time exercise poor judegement. Anyone with elderly relative know the issue that arise when we age. The office, who is twice as big as she is and out weigh her by three times is not threatened. Handcuff her, arrest her yes. Taser her no. This is why we no longer travel in Texas, you people are out of control.

- nanmw

Posted 06/10/09 07:35 AM