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Video Shows US Marshals Use Taser On Wrong Man

Innocent Man Shocked With Taser At Community Center

POSTED: 9:20 am CDT April 17, 2009
UPDATED: 3:07 pm CDT April 18, 2009

A local man said he was shocked to be rushed by U.S. marshals at a basketball game Wednesday.

Surveillance cameras at a Grandview community center captured video of Stuart Wright at a men's basketball game when the marshals burst in, guns drawn and a Taser gun deployed.

"I've never been through anything like this before. I was in shock," said Wright.

Wright played basketball in college and even the semi-pros, but now his biggest accomplishments are his kids.

"Basketball is just a hobby now. It relaxes me. I'm free from stress," Wright said.

But that was before he hit the hardwood Wednesday night.

Wright, of Kansas City, Kan., had just gone in to sub for someone when suddenly the U.S. marshals drew down on him.

"When the horn sounded, they rushed the floor like gangbusters," Wright said.

The marshals said they were looking for Vinol Wilson, charged with dealing crack cocaine in an organization that involved dozens of others. They said he is a man they consider armed and dangerous, due to past convictions involving drugs, weapons and assault.

The marshals said they try to avoid busy places, but that Wilson had been eluding them for more than a year. And a confidential informant told them that he was at the community center, wearing an orange jersey with the No. 23 on it.

"I heard a pop-pop, and my body just went down," said Wright, who was wearing the number 23 jersey. He showed where the two Taser gun probes left blood stains on the shirt.

The marshals said a deputy deployed the Taser because Wright pulled away from them when they ordered him to the ground, then cocked his arm as if to throw a punch.

Wright said that's not true. "I had my hands up in the air," he said.

Wright said the marshals apologized afterward, but he said that's not enough.

"That was humiliating. That was probably one of the most embarrassing, most humiliating and painful things -- all wrapped in one -- that I've ever been through," said Wright.

"It was out of control," Wright said. "It was all the way out of control. It's unfortunate they feel like that's OK, that type of behavior in a family atmosphere with kids around, with innocent people around, that that type of behavior is OK."

The marshals continue to search for Wilson. There is a $1,000 reward offered for information that leads to his arrest. The number to call with information is 913-551-6727.

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