Former inspector general reviews Taser fire incident, years after scrutinizing federal policies
Fiery incident raises questions over federal Taser rules
Video shows the moment a federal officer deployed a Taser near a gas pump. FOX 10's Justin Lum has more on the Department of the Interior policy concerns.
MOHAVE VALLEY, Ariz. - "I was like, ‘Oh crap.’ I was shocked," Genelle said.
What they're saying:
Genelle saw the burst of flames at a gas station on the Mojave Valley Indian Reservation. She was already filming. Now her video angle of the incident on July 16 has nearly 20 million views on Instagram. Clarence Coyl, the man who caught fire, was also recording his encounter with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer.
"You’re gonna go to jail, all I’m asking for is your license right now to identify you," the officer is heard saying on video.
"What am I being arrested for?" Coyl asked.
"You are not cooperating for having committed a crime," the officer said.
"What? A misdemeanor? A misdemeanor (expletive)," Coyl replied before being stunned by the electronic control device.
Video shows gas pump fire after "Taser" deployment
Cell phone video captures the moment a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer uses a Taser on a man near a gas pump, igniting a fire on the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation. FOX 10's Justin Lum has the story.
The backstory is still unclear. Clarence tells FOX 10 he was at the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge when the officer warned him that he was trespassing. This happened 20 minutes away from the gas station.
"The officer told him, ‘You were told to leave,’ and the guy said, ‘I did leave,’ and the officer said ‘when you did, you peeled out and kicked up rocks all over me. I need to see your ID’ and then it escalated from there and that’s when he pulled his Taser out on the guy," Genelle said.
A spokesperson with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the Taser deployment is under review and declines to comment further. Genelle also claims that the officer whose uniform’s name reads "P. Nielsen" did not just pull out a Taser.
"I don’t know what happened, but the officer actually put his Taser away, and he pulled his Taser away, and he pulled his real gun on him for a second, and he says, ‘I told you stop reaching,’" Genelle said.
Coyl suffered first-and second-degree burns. He says he was never arrested. Fish and Wildlife falls under the U.S. Department of Interior along with other federal agencies, specifically the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Park Police. From 2019 to 2025, Mark Lee Greenblatt was the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Interior. In 2023, he released a report blasting the DOI’s Taser policies.
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"The entire world of tasers inside the Department of the Interior, including the Fish and Wildlife Service, was sort of in purgatory," Greenblatt said.
Dig deeper:
The oversight report called the policies outdated and unfinalized, with an inadequate review of incident reports by supervisors. Officers failed to routinely test the electronic control devices, sometimes less than five times a month. Greenblatt also called out incomplete Taser training.
"That’s how you end up with these viral moments that are pretty scary," Greenblatt said. "Everyone knows those Tasers do send electric shocks and have that occur near a gas pump, and it appears to be a gas pump that is in use. That is troubling. There’s no question about that and that’s the type of issue we were flagging in our report," Greenblatt explained.
The current DOI policy clearly states that an electronic control device should not be used if a subject is near flammable or explosive materials. Greenblatt says the potential for an explosion is at the core of why the policy review was done in 2023.
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"And there should be bright letters that say don’t use this in a gas station," Greenblatt said.
From Genelle’s point of view, she describes Clarence as hostile that day, but agrees with Greenblatt that deploying a Taser at a gas pump is dangerous.
"I think they both did have a bad day and I feel bad for both of them to be honest," Genelle said.
What we don't know:
FWS has not told FOX 10 what the status of the officer’s employment is.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from a witness, Clarence Coyl, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson, Mark Lee Greenblatt, a 2023 U.S. Department of Interior oversight report, and previous FOX10 reporting on the incident.