Few answers from Glendale City Council during meeting, as police is mired in taser controversy

GLENDALE, Ariz. (FOX 10) -- Glendale's mayor and city council members met on Tuesday night, in their first city council meeting since a shocking video concerning the use of a taser on a suspect by Glendale Police officers in 2017 was made public.

During the tasing incident, which was captured in detail by body cameras, police officials say officers tried to remove a man, identified as Johnny Wheatcroft, from a car so they could maintain a safe eye on them, but Wheatcroft immediately began to resist the officers. Officials say the Taser was eventually used in a "drive stun" capacity on Wheatcroft, and in the body cam video, an officer was seen deploying his taser, striking Wheatcroft.

A lawyer representing the plaintiffs in a lawsuit connected to the incident says the body camera video shows officers using a stun gun 11 times on Wheatcroft, including in his groin area.

Body camera video of the incident was released by Glendale Police on Friday and has sparked a protest. On Monday, Sgt. John Roth with the department said he wanted to give members of the media all the information, but refused to allow cameras inside to show a dozen reporters four different videos of the incident.

On Tuesday, FOX 10 has learned that Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery will re-examine the case, after declining to press charges in October of 2017. The mayor also released a statement on the incident on the same day.

Despite the mounting controversy surrounding the 2017 incident, the mayor and city council members remained silent on the issue, during a sparsely attended meeting that saw only a few dozen people in a room that could easily hold several hundred people. When asked by FOX 10's Matt Rodewald about the issue at the close of the meeting, the Mayor only said:

"We're adjourned, sir."

During the meeting, city council members spoke about a number of issues, all not related to the taser controversy, ranging from thanking people who came out for a shred event, talking about mobile office hours, thanking police officers, and congratulating the Arizona Early Day Gas Engine and Antique Tractor Association.

Meeting attendee Bill Demsky said he, as a longtime taxpayer, was not happy.

"When I saw that, with this cop tasering this poor guy handcuffed on the ground, it was torture," said Demsky. "It's sadistic. If I've got a guy handcuffed on the ground, tasered him, I'd be in prison."