Cross posted from https://mander.xyz/post/56182047

Man catches fire after being tasered: ‘You guys are trespassing’

An unidentified U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer is accused by an Arizona man of confronting him at a gas station after an earlier encounter at a wildlife refuge, where the man says he suffered burns and nerve damage. (KPNX/CLARENCE COYL/CNN/CNN Newsource)

CLARENCE, Ariz. (KPNX/CNN/CNN Newsource/WKRC) — An Arizona man says he suffered burns and nerve damage after an encounter with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer that began at a wildlife refuge and continued at a nearby gas station.

According to Coyle, he and a friend went fishing at the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge on July 16 and arrived at an area known as Catfish Paradise when they were approached by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer.

An unidentified U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer is accused by an Arizona man of confronting him at a gas station after an earlier encounter at a wildlife refuge, where the man says he suffered burns and nerve damage. (KPNX/CLARENCE COYL/CNN/CNN Newsource)

Coyle said the officer told them they were trespassing and ordered them to leave.

“He goes, ‘You guys are trespassing. You need to leave now.’ I said, ‘Okay, fine.’ And he got snotty all of a sudden, and he goes, ‘Well, I’ll give you a ticket.’ And I said, ‘Give me a ticket for trespassing,’ and I got in my truck, and because he said leave, so I got in my truck and left.”

Coyle, a Mojave Valley resident, said the officer was wearing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife uniform.

He said the encounter did not end there.

According to Coyle, he stopped at the Thaylpo Fuel Station on the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation before heading home, where he says he encountered the same officer again.

“I come out with two sodas in my hand and my wallet, and he’s screaming at me, ‘Give me your ID. Give me your ID,’ and I’m looking. I’m going, ‘No, what for?’ You know, there’s no reason for me to give it unless you explain it to me.”

Coyle said he had started pumping gas when the confrontation occurred.

He said he does not remember much after that and has spent the past several days recovering from his injuries.

According to Coyle, he suffered first- and second-degree burns to his left hand and both wrists, along with nerve damage to his pinky and ring fingers.

“I literally thought, oh, it’s going to burn to death and die. I really did.”