Posted on Leave a comment

LivePD ‘Tazed and Confused’ Defendant Gets Suspended Sentence, Probation

tazed-confused-livepd-suspect-held-DUI
tazed-confused-livepd-suspect-held-DUI
[Screenshot from LivePD website] Warwick Police officers are shown arresting Steven Rogers, 21, during the Sept. 22 episode of A&E’s LivePD program.

WARWICK, RI — The 22-year-old Warwick man featured in a LivePD segment, “Tazed and Confused”, last September will serve a one-year suspended sentence and one year’s probation after pleading no contest to DUI and resisting arrest charges on March 27.

Kent County Superior Court Magistrate John F. McBurney III also sentenced Steven Rogers, of 106 Pinegrove Ave., to a six-month license suspension; the installation of an ignition interlock system in his vehicle; 30 hours of community service; attendance at substance abuse counseling; and more than $850 in fines and court fees. McBurney dismissed charges for reckless driving and refusing to submit to a chemical test.

Rogers had already admitted to a number of traffic violations and been fined $350.80 in separate hearings at the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal.

In the LivePD program shown Sept. 21, Rogers is shown driving an already-damaged pickup truck when Sgt. John Curley joins other officers on a high-speed pursuit beginning on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick and ending behind the Chapel View shopping center off Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston.

Rogers, who was 21 at the time of his arrest, then leads the team of officers onto Rte. 37, drives the wrong way down the Exit 2B on-ramp from Pontiac Avenue, and leaves the truck on foot before the Warwick officers subdue him using a taser. While in police custody, Rogers repeatedly yells expletives at the officers.

Curley is shown in the episode searching the truck and finding a small amount of marijuana, along with several empty hard iced tea bottles. At one point in the program, a graphic appears terming the incident “Tazed and Confused.”

In his report of the incident, Ofc. David Boardman stated that he injured his knee during the pursuit, and that he tried to administer sobriety tests on Rogers at the Warwick police station.

Rogers was “extremely hysterical at this point and could not keep focus,” wrote Boardman.

Boardman also reported that Rogers later “made multiple comments that were suicidal in nature.” After evaluation at Kent County Hospital, Rogers was transported back to Warwick Police headquarters, where he refused a breathalyzer test.

Warwick is the first Rhode Island police department to be featured on LivePD, which is shown on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Warwick Police report from the night of Roger’s arrest is embedded below. WPD-18-1881-AR

Joe Hutnak - editorjoe.warwick@gmail.com
Author: Joe Hutnak - [email protected]

Co-Founder and Editor-at-Large of Warwick Post. For Warwick Post-related inquiries or communications, email [email protected]

This is a test