Chris Kemp

A defendant and a witness are questioning the use of taser guns that police say were used to help contain a March 5 fight on Water Street.

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee Area Technical College student Shawn Uecker and UW-La Crosse student Jess Walther were arrested March 5 on charges of battery of a police officer, obstructing an officer and disorderly conduct.

According to the criminal complaint, Walther acted disorderly when he left The Brat Kabin, 314 Water St., as two plainclothes officers, Bill Slaggie and James Southworth, approached him.

Uecker approached the officers while they were talking to Walther and repeatedly tried to put his arm around Slaggie. The officers warned the men and let them go, according to the complaint.

After walking away, the complaint said that the group returned and Uecker again tried putting his arm around Slaggie, who along with Southworth, forced him to the ground.

One of Uecker’s friends charged the officers and pushed Southworth off of Uecker, and Uecker then took several swings with a closed fist at Slaggie’s head, according to the complaint.

The fight spilled over into the middle of Water Street with both officers wrestling Uecker and Walther. Slaggie and Southworth applied their taser guns several times in an effort to stop the pair from resisting, according to the complaint.

A taser gun sends an electric shock to the individual, said Deputy Chief Brad Venaas.

“It’s a way of using the electric energy to cause a dysfunction in the nervous system which stops someone from resisting,” he said.

Walther said he was in town visiting friends and was halfway down the street when he saw Uecker wrestling with the officers. Walther was only trying to break up the fight, he said.

“I might have bumped into him, but I did not cause any bodily damage,” Walther said. “For me, all I can say is I’m basically innocent.”

Sophomore Bryan Feucht witnessed the brawl and said that another friend, Jacob Grotelueschen, was also trying to break up the fight and was tasered.

“I think it was justified in the one case of (Uecker),” Feucht said. “But they didn’t have to taser Jake.”

Feucht said that Grotelueschen was tasered in the forehead and “standing in a puddle of his own blood.”

Walther, who was in Eau Claire County Jail until the following Monday afternoon, said he believes that taser guns in this case were unnecessary.

“My personal opinion on the taser is that if they’re already on top of him, I don’t think they should (taser),” he said.

Feucht and Walther did admit to drinking but both said their memories of the night are clear. Slaggie said that he stands by the criminal complaint and the use of taser guns.

“I guess it’s their opinion,” Slaggie said. “It certainly seemed appropriate at the time with a couple officers being assaulted.”

Venaas, a 21-year veteran of the police force, said that while there have been a few cases of officers overstepping their boundaries, claims of taser misuse usually turn out to be false.

“There are always allegations of misuse of force,” he said. “I can tell you that from the time that I’ve been here and the things that I’ve investigated, there’s not any merit to those for the most part.”