Special needs student tased 3 times by deputy at school

ESPAÑOLA, New Mexico -- A family in New Mexico is taking legal action after their special needs son was tased three times by a deputy in the classroom.

Deputies say the 15-year-old refused to be searched after allegedly exchanging possible drug paraphernalia at school.

The teen is heard calling the deputy a name just before the incident occurred.

In bodycam footage, the deputy is then seen forcing the boy onto a desk. A struggle ensues, the boy is taken to the floor and is then tased.

KOAT reports the deputy claimed in his police report that he tased the boy after he struck a school security guard. On the video, the security guard can be heard three times asking the deputy to taze the boy while he is struggling with the student.

"The video depicts child abuse and cruelty and inexplicable use of force," the boy's attorney, Laura Schauer Ives said.

The teen is charged with resisting arrest and other offenses.

In a statement, Schauer Ives explained, "the child has a special education plan that requires de-escalation before the school imposes any discipline."

"No one, especially a child with a known disability, should be tased for talking back to an officer," the executive director of the ACLU of New Mexico said. "(Tasers) should never be used when the subject's back is to the officer and the officer's safety isn't imminently threatened."