Omaha (NE) Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said Friday he will recommend that two Omaha police officers be fired because of their involvement in a fatal encounter Monday morning in which a Taser was used on a mentally ill man.
The chief said he legally couldn’t identify the two, but The World-Herald has learned that the officers are Scotty Payne and Ryan McClarty.
Zachary Bearheels, 29, was traveling from South Dakota to Oklahoma when he was kicked off the bus in Omaha. He is bipolar and schizophrenic, family members said, and was not taking his medication.
In an incident early Monday morning outside a gas station in which police officers made multiple attempts to restrain Bearheels, Payne shocked Bearheels with a Taser 12 times, Schmaderer said. McClarty, Schmaderer said, repeatedly punched Bearheels in the head, including when Bearheels was not resisting.
“In this incident, despite our extensive training, we failed,” Schmaderer said.
Schmaderer said the actions of the officers “were not in accordance with our policies and training and will not be tolerated.”