The video shows Runnels tase and yank Bryce Masters out of the vehicle and down on the street as Masters howls. He was taken to a hospital and placed in a medically induced coma.
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Runnels was sentenced to four years in federal prison which will be followed by two years of supervised release.
In the footage, whose release was ordered by a federal judge, Independence police officer Timothy Runnels, 32, is seen approaching the vehicle and telling Masters to exit.
The teen then lies facedown on the ground, where Runnels eventually places him in handcuffs.
As part of his guilty plea, Runnels admitted that he violated the teenager’s civil rights during the arrest by intentionally dropping him face first on the ground while Masters posed no threat.
Runnels then said “F*ck it”, and used his Taser on the teen for a whopping 20 seconds – 4 times longer than is normal and acceptable use of the weapon.
There were no charges against Runnels for his stun gun use – although it was the effects of the Taser that caused Masters to go into cardiac arrest, depriving his brain of oxygen for up to eight minutes and resulting in brain damage, The Intercept reported.
Comatose: Masters’ heart stopped after he was shocked with the stun gun during the traffic stop in Independence.
Matt, who is also a police officer, added: “We’ve been in a continual state of sadness since that day”.
Runnels reported after the stop and Tasering that he had smelled marijuana, which was later found in the auto, and that there was a warrant out for the vehicle, which turned out to be actually be for a different auto. “You’re under arrest”, Runnels finally answers.
In the video, Runnels pulls Masters over in his grey Pontiac.
The court case was brought to trial by the US Justice Department after local authorities in Kansas chose not to prosecute Timothy Runnels for the incident. The officer agreed to plead guilty (PDF) to a single excessive force count in September and was sentenced June 1.
The boy then swings his legs out of the auto and stands up, while still being stunned. Masters, who was recording the incident on his phone, asks repeatedly, to which the officer replies, “yeah”.
Bryce will most likely suffer from brain damage for the rest of his life thanks to the incident. “His use of excessive force violated both the public’s trust and his oath to uphold the law”.
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Runnels won’t have to go to prison until August.
