Taser death in troubled town
Some smell a cover-up in Winnfield, La., which is no stranger to scandal. Police shocked Baron Pikes nine times in 14 minutes.
By Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune
July 20, 2008
WINNFIELD, LA. -- At 1:28 p.m. on Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.
What happened in the 39 minutes in between -- during which Pikes was handcuffed by police and shocked nine times with a Taser while reportedly pleading for mercy -- is spawning suspicions of a political cover-up in this lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.
Racial tensions also are mounting; Pikes was black and the officer involved is white.
No novelist could have invented Winnfield, the birthplace of two of Louisiana's most colorful and notorious governors -- Huey and Earl Long.
Read More Here
By Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune
July 20, 2008
WINNFIELD, LA. -- At 1:28 p.m. on Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.
What happened in the 39 minutes in between -- during which Pikes was handcuffed by police and shocked nine times with a Taser while reportedly pleading for mercy -- is spawning suspicions of a political cover-up in this lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.
Racial tensions also are mounting; Pikes was black and the officer involved is white.
No novelist could have invented Winnfield, the birthplace of two of Louisiana's most colorful and notorious governors -- Huey and Earl Long.
Read More Here
