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Gary Duckworth interjected from his lawn during a traffic stop while his friend Kali Wood received a parking ticket for stopping her car in a no parking zone in North Enid, Oklahoma this week.
Wood was driving home when she saw Duckworth outside mowing his lawn and stopped to talk with him while she kept her car running with her foot on the brake, according to NBC's KFOR.
The officer approached the vehicle, assessed the situation and issued her a $25 citation for stopping in the no parking zone, and Duckworth's interaction with the officer ended in the officer pointing his Taser at the man.
'It really angered me to feel like that I can’t even be out mowing my own front yard and, when a neighbor drives by and honks, that I can’t step out and speak to them without feeling that I’m getting harassed by the police,' Duckworth said.
'I was sitting there watching somebody I know for a fact would never hurt a fly and is one of the best people I know getting a Taser pulled on him because he was asking questions,' Wood said.
The officer's first-person perspective camera captured the incident as it unfolded.
Duckworth said he tried to explain to the officer on Wood's behalf that her car was not actually in park.
'I mean, her car’s running. We’re just talking,' Duckworth said to the officer.
'You can come to court and tell the judge,' the officer said.
The officer then handed over an electronic device to capture Wood's signature and gave her the citation.
'What’s the court date?' Duckworth asked the police officer.
'I’ll explain it to her,' the officer said. 'She’s the one getting a ticket.'
'You can’t even answer my question?' Duckworth asked.
'Sir, I owe you nothing. You’ve been nothing but rude to me since I got here,' the officer said.
The officer's camera then showed Duckworth step around Wood's vehicle and approach the officer.
'Back up, or you’re going to jail,' the officer said.
“Really? Duckworth asked.
'Yeah, really. Back up,' the officer said.
The officer then pulled out his Taser and pointed it at Duckworth, but did not deploy the weapon at any time.
The officer then went back to his patrol car, but Duckworth advanced again, causing the officer the react by pointing the Taser at him another time.
North Enid Police Chief Rick Dominic supported his officer's actions.
'My officer didn’t shoot him with the Taser. He backed up to his car and, as soon as he holstered, if you watch the video, the guy advances again. And, so you don’t know what they’re going to do,' Dominic said.
The officer used a legitimate escalation of force by starting with verbal commands, according to Dominic.
A police committee of four North Enid citizens also reviewed the video and felt the officer acted appropriately.
'Their response was that he followed department policy and acted within his training,' Dominic said.
Wood said she would have complied if she had been given a warning by the officer.
She plans to pay the ticket, she said.