Fairfax Co. Police Investigates Use of Stun Gun

The Fairfax County Police Department is investigating “the facts and circumstances which led to the deployment of a electronic control weapon (ECW) in the Rose Hill area of the Franconia district on Thursday September 24, 2015”.

In the footage – taken in Fairfax County – the suspect appears to be complying with the officer and has his hands on top of the police cruiser.

Inside, the manager asked him why he was there, and he did not give an answer, according to an audio recording of the 911 call that the police department posted online Monday.

The man then fells to the ground.

They say the man, 35-year-old Elton Cansler of Alexandria, admitted stealing a pair of sunglasses.

However, with the officer behind him, he is suddenly tasered.

The man was being arrested for larceny. He was also charged with assaulting an officer.

The incident comes weeks after prosecutors announced they would not press charges in the death of a mentally ill woman who was repeatedly shocked with a stun gun while being held in the county jail.

On Sunday, the department released a statement on Facebook saying it had opened an internal affairs investigation into the incident.

The officer was looking into a theft complaint, police spokesman Capt. Ed O’Carroll said. They remain interested in interviewing any remaining witnesses, he said.