California cop fired after injuring boy with Taser runs for sheriff: ‘I made a mistake’
Ryan Gillaspie is running for sheriff in Amador County, promising voters to bring lasting change to the law enforcement agency and explaining to anyone who asks why he was fired from his job in September.
Gillaspie, now a former Amador County sheriff’s sergeant, accidentally fired a Taser that injured a 12-year-old boy in May. He was running for sheriff at the time against Sheriff Gary Redman.
That incident became public in detail earlier this month when the Sheriff’s Office disclosed its written notice of dismissal, a document that says Gillaspie failed to seek medical attention for the boy, inform the child’s mother or report the Taser incident to the Sheriff’s Office. The child did not suffer an electrical charge from the shooting, but bled a little after a probe hit his leg above the knee.
Gillaspie, a 22-year veteran of the department, said the decision to fire him was “100% politically motivated” and chose to stay in the campaign.
“That probably would’ve just been a memo in my personnel file,” Gillaspie told The Sacramento Bee. “I made a mistake. We get it. We move on with life.
Sheriff’s officials, however, view Gillaspie’s conduct as political.
In the termination notice, Sheriff’s Capt. Jarret Benov wrote that Gillaspie concealed the incident from the Sheriff’s Office for more than three weeks, which is “much more serious” than an accidental Taser discharge.
“You did this to avoid any impact on the election and to avoid corrective action and discipline,” Benov wrote to Gillaspie. “That was dishonest.”
Placed on leave before primary
The Taser incident hung over Gillaspie’s campaign since the primary election. His campaign announced in a news release on June 3 that the Sheriff’s Office had placed him on paid administrative leave as authorities conducted an investigation into the “accidental discharge of a Taser device.”
The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office carried out an investigation to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Prosecutors determined in early August that criminal charges against Gillaspie were not warranted. The California Attorney General’s Office concurred with the decision not to file charges against Gillaspie, according to a news release from Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe.
The Amador County Sheriff’s Office conducted its own internal affairs investigation. Benov wrote a notice of disciplinary action to terminate Gillaspie’s employment with the Sheriff’s Office. Benov served the notice to Gillaspie on Aug. 31.
Benov on Oct. 5 released the notice to local news media outlets five days after Patrick Weart, Gillaspie’s running mate, posted on his own campaign Facebook page an “open letter” about the Taser incident.
“I believe that the real reason Redman fired him was retaliation for Ryan Gillaspie running for Sheriff and to disrupt the planned future succession of the Sheriff’s Office,” Weart wrote.
In an email to news media regarding Gillaspie’s termination notice, Benov wrote that Weart’s letter contained a misleading statement regarding the department’s reasoning for firing Gillaspie.
“This particular statement is objectively false,” Benov wrote in the email to news media. “It was intended to minimize and trivialize the reasons for the disciplinary action regarding Ryan Gillaspie and was intended to mislead the public.”
Benov cited California Penal Code section 832.7, subsection (e) that “allows for a peace officer’s employer to release factual information from the officer’s personnel file concerning the disciplinary action that specifically refutes the false statements made public by the peace officer or their agent or representative.”
Benov then released the notice of dismissal to news organizations.
What happened with the Taser
Gillaspie had just finished his shift about 6 p.m. May 2 and was on his way home in his marked sheriff’s vehicle when he stopped at the Mike Clark Field in Pine Grove. He parked near the baseball field and got out to visit the little league team he helps coach.
The 12-year-old boy, a member of the baseball team who in the past had expressed a curiosity in how the Taser worked, approached Gillaspie and asked about the weapon again.
Gillaspie pulled his Taser out of its holster and bent over to the boy’s level as he showed the child how it worked, according to the document released by the Sheriff’s Office.
“While doing so, you cycled the safety mechanism of the weapon off and pulled the trigger,” Benov wrote in the released disciplinary action notice to Gillaspie. “You did not intend the weapon to discharge, but it did due to your carelessness and neglect.”
The Taser’s two probes shot out directly at the boy, one of the probes struck the child’s right thigh. Benov said that Gillaspie “panicked” and spotted the probe hanging from the boy’s baseball uniform pants, making it likely the probe also penetrated the child’s skin.
Gillaspie grabbed the probe with its attached wire and pulled, then the boy said “ow.” Benov said Gillaspie grabbed the probe again, “swiftly” pulling it out and off the boy’s pants.
The boy’s reaction to the first attempt at pulling the probe should have indicated the probe punctured the skin, according to Benov.
“That should have immediately resulted in you calling for medical personnel to respond for it is policy that Taser probes are to be removed from the skin by qualified medical personnel,” Benov wrote in the notice to Gillaspie. “You and others questioned (the boy) as to whether he was alright. He repeatedly said he was fine. You did nothing to confirm that.”
The sheriff’s captain said Gillaspie could have remained at the baseball field until the end of practice to inform the boy’s mother and ask her to check if the child was injured.
“Instead, you left the ball field before his mother arrived and left it to the team’s head coach to make this notification to her,” Benov wrote to Gillaspie.
Failing to report it to the Sheriff’s Office
Benov also wrote Gillaspie failed to report the “accidental discharge” to a supervisor or anyone else at the Sheriff’s Office.
“By all accounts, the only person you notified about the event was your wife,” Benov wrote to Gillaspie. “You did nothing except dispatch your wife to try to make it right. You did nothing at all.”
Sheriff’s officials did not find out about the Taser incident until May 25, when the boy’s mother called the Sheriff’s Office to report it. When confronted with the mother’s report, Gillaspie said he didn’t report the incident because he was “scared,” according to Benov’s notice.
“You said you intentionally withheld and concealed the event from the department because of the upcoming election,” Benov wrote to Gillaspie. “You gambled that if the event became known you would get a suspension for failing to report the accidental discharge.”
Gillaspie said he has been up front with voters about the Taser incident and the fact he was fired. He also said he is considering filing a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office for releasing details of an internal affairs investigation to the news media.
“You think politics is based on merits and accomplishments,” Gillaspie said. “What happens is that it’s who has dirt on who. I’m running for sheriff because I’m upset with politicians.”
