I love baseball. But since the Major League Baseball season has been postponed indefinitely because of the Chi-com Virus I’ve had to look for other ways to watch the game I am so fond of. I’ve been getting my fix via a simulation called Out of the Park Baseball 21, but I think what I found today is even more entertaining than that game.
Here, a critter armed with an aluminum baseball bat steps up to the plate . . . in a Walmart. The umpire should have thrown him out of the game right then as metal bats aren’t allowed in the MLB, but apparently he failed to notice. He’s ready to hit, even has batting gloves on. He initially faces one pitcher. But when the game got out close, the the police brought in their closer.
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. – San Leandro police released body-cam footage Wednesday of a deadly shooting by police that killed a man armed with a baseball bat inside a Walmart store.
A 911 call from Walmart security brought police to the store on Hesperian Boulevard on Saturday afternoon. Cell-phone video captured the initial scene.
“He has a bat with him. He has it in the air, um, threatening to hit an associate with it,” a store security official told a dispatcher during the call.
Police body-cam video shows Steven Taylor, 33, armed with the bat. A family attorney said Taylor was schizophrenic and bipolar.
Well, he should have taken his meds.
The first officer to arrive asked Taylor to drop the bat and came close to removing it.
“Mr. Taylor was ordered multiple times to put down the weapon, but he did not comply,” said San Leandro Police Chief Jeff Tudor.
Taylor suddenly pulled the bat away.
“Drop the bat, man!” the officer told Taylor.
New cell phone video shows the officer tasing Taylor, but police say he fought through it.
“When an officer deployed a taser, it was ineffective, and Mr. Taylor continued to approach the officer while wielding the baseball bat,” Tudor said.
Ball one.
The officer tased Taylor a second time . . .
Ball two. Now in comes the closer. He throws heat, in this case heated lead.
. . . and also fired his gun, shooting Taylor once in the chest.
OHHH! He hit him with the pitch!
“Shots fired! Shots fired,” the officer radioed in to dispatch.
A second officer arrived at this point and also tased Taylor.
Taylor dropped the bat after being shot.
He was tased again and dropped to the ground.
He tries to take his base, but Taylor looks hurt. He might have to come out of the game! Let’s take a look at the replay!
I especially enjoy the nice long blood trail.
Vance Piggott, an attorney for the officers told KTVU that lethal force was used because the Taser deployment didn’t stop Taylor.
In a statement, Paggott said, “Taylor slightly but continued to fight through this second cycle and advance toward the officer with the bat still in a position to strike the officer.”
The attorney said “both officers were justified in their actions.”
The names of the officers weren’t released Wednesday. The department said it was withholding them because threats had been made against the officers.
The Alameda County district attorney’s office will determine whether the officers’ actions were justified.
Another criminal gets put down. He wanted to play hardball and the cops obliged him. If he had just swung at that last “fastball” maybe he could of at least fouled off the bullet. But he shouldn’t feel bad about it. Even the best hitters fail 70% of the time. You’re out.
