Austin News
WATCH: Woman, 72, hit with Taser during traffic stop
07:44 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Travis County Constable's Office Precinct 3 Tuesday released the dashboard camera video of a questionable traffic stop on Highway 71. The question is, did the deputy go too far in getting the 72-year-old woman to comply or did her actions along a dangerous stretch of highway warranted her being tasered?
On the afternoon of May 11, Travis County Deputy Constable Chris Bieze pulled over a white Toyota pickup truck driven by Kathryn Winkfein, 72. The incident report shows she was clocked driving 60 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour construction zone along Highway 71. After writing the ticket, Bieze radioed to the Precinct 3 dispatcher that it's a routine traffic stop, but what followed was anything but routine. When Deputy Bieze presented Winkfein with the ticket, she refused to sign.
"I'm not going to sign it, go ahead and take me to jail, go ahead and take me to jail," Winkfein can be heard telling the deputy in the video.
At that point, Bieze informed her if she doesn't sign, he will have to take her to jail, which is standard policy. He then opened her door and asked her to move to the rear of the vehicle. Once out of the vehicle, Winkfein agrees to sign the ticket. She uses profanity in doing so.
"Give me the (BLEEPING) thing and just let me sign it," Winkfein said.
"Get over here now," Deputy Bieze said.
Winkfein then attempts to walk around Deputy Bieze. That's when he pushes her backward.
"Oh you are going to shove a 72-year-old woman," Winkfein yells.
In the incident report, Deputy Bieze claimed he pushed Winkfein back to keep both of them safe. Along the stretch of Highway 71, there's only about two feet of shoulder.
"And at that point she tries to walk around him and if she were to continue her path... she would have walked right out into the main oncoming traffic," said Sgt. Major Gary Griffin, Travis County Constable's Office Precinct 3.
Bieze then warned Winkfein that he will use his Taser if she doesn't step back. Winkfein responds with "go ahead and tase me."
"I dare you," she said.
After repeated warnings, Bieze does use his Taser.
"Get on the ground," Bieze commanded Winkfein as she falls to the ground screaming.
"She was an adult; she was told nine times to comply; she chose all nine times to disregard the orders of a Texas peace officer," Griffin said.
After being tased, Winkfein's tone with the deputy softens.
"Do you understand ma'am?" Bieze asks her.
"Yes, sir," she replies.
We attempted to get Winkfein's side of the story, but no one answered at her Granite Shoals home. While the Precinct 3 Constable's Office claims none of the Taser darts penetrated Winkfein's skin, one of her neighbors told KVUE News off camera that Winkfein showed her the pink marks on her neck -- one of the two spots where she was struck. Still, despite Winkfein's age, Sgt. Griffin says his deputy made the right decision when met with physical resistance.
"If I hit that woman with this, I am going to break something, I am going to break something, he didn't break nothin'!" Griffin said.
KVUE has learned that Deputy Beize is the Taser instructor for Precinct 3. We're told he would know if tasering Winkfein could have been a hazard to her health.
The Precinct 3 Constable's Office says it is unaware of any pending litigation by Winkfein, but she has been charged with resisting arrest -- a misdemeanor.
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