Police Shoot Accidentally Instead of Tazzer

Updated: 6:50 p.m. PT June 23, 2006

BREMERTON, Wash. - A sheriff's deputy who was trying to get a man down from a tree shot and wounded him after mistakenly pulling a gun instead of a Taser, authorities say.
The deputy, a five-year veteran of the force whose name was not released, was placed on leave while Thursday's shooting is investigated.
Deputies carry both a Taser and a gun on their utility belts. The Taser, or stun gun, is similar in shape to the compact .40-caliber gun the deputy carried, sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilson said.

The victim was listed in satisfactory condition.
The man had climbed a fig tree and stayed there for hours, talking to himself. Deputies were unsure whether he was intoxicated or psychotic, and they wanted to get him down before he hurt himself or others, Wilson said.
Deputies and rescue workers tried to coax him down for almost two hours, during which he became increasingly hostile, said David Blakeslee, an employee at an auto repair shop nearby.
Blakeslee said the man climbed down on his own after getting shot.
"He said, `Ow, that hurt. I'm coming down, I'm coming down,'" Blakeslee said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Gay Teen Sent to 'Camp' by Christian Parents

Imprisoned Teen’s Father Admits He Sent Son To Ex-Gay CampWashington, DC - The father of a gay teenager who wrote in a web log that he was being sent against his will to a camp run by a group called “Love in Action International” to “cure” him of his homosexuality has defended his actions in an interview with televangelist Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. Joe Stark claims he did the right thing when he sent his 16 year old son Zach to the camp near Memphis, Tennessee. “We felt very good about Zach coming here because… to let him see for himself the destructive lifestyle, what he has to face in the future, and to give him some options that society doesn’t give him today,” Stark told CBN. “Knowing that your son... statistics say that by the age of thirty he could either have AIDS or be dead.” Stark also believes that he did nothing wrong in sending the teen to the camp against his will. “But until he turns 18 and he’s an adult in the state of Tennessee, I’m responsible for him. And I’m going to see to it that he has all options available to him,” Stark said. Stark added that when Zack is an adult he can make his own life choices. The interview broadcast on the Disney-owned ABC Family cable network is the first proof offered that Zack actually exists. His story first came to light last month when a Web logger going only by the name of “Zach” said his parents were sending him to the religious organization to try to convert him to heterosexuality. The teen had identified himself as a 16-year-old from Bartlett, TN but did not give a last name, making it impossible to verify the story. Zack wrote in his blog that his parents “tell me that there is something psychologically wrong with me.I’m a big screwup to them, who isn’t on the path God wants me to be on. So I’m sitting here in tears ... and I can’t help it.” The log has created a furor among LGBT activists and has led to two investigations by the state. A department investigator visited the camp and found there were no signs of abuse. The Department did not say whether it found “Zach” and until Stark came forward it remained unclear if the teen ever existed. John Smid, executive director of Love in Action, noted that the allegations were never described to him but he assumed they involved a complaint of psychological abuse. According to Schmid the camp program “is to help kids to grow in their relationship with Christ.” “We understand people don’t have control over what they feel, but we teach them they are able to control what they do,” Smid said. “We don’t have to act on those desires, even if we feel them.” The second probe of “Love In Action” was begun on July 11 by the state Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities Department - because the group was offering counseling in drug and alcohol addiction. State officials say they can’t do that without a license. In an effort to head off the new examination of the camp, Love in Action executive director John Smid said the organization will change its website wording and direct clients to established, off-site drug and alcohol counseling services.

Gay Porn Star Suspected of Raping 7 Women

Gay Porn Star Rape Suspect Hangs Self In JailColorado - A former gay porn actor and real estate agent suspected in seven rapes in Colorado and Texas died July 13 after hanging himself in his jail cell. Bradford Wagner, 37, of Glenwood Springs was found unconscious, hanging by his neck from a sheet in his cell, Boulder County sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Phil West said in a press release. He was pronounced dead at Boulder Community Hospital and coroner Thomas Faure ruled Wagner’s death a suicide. Wagner, who had been held in the jail since his arrest in June 2004, had not been considered a suicide risk, West said. A message left after hours for Wagner’s lawyer, Wilbur Smith, was not immediately returned. The real estate agent was arrested after police said they linked him to four rapes at a Boulder apartment complex during the 1990s by surreptitiously collecting DNA samples from him. An undercover officer posing as a home buyer collected DNA samples from Wagner, his car, his home and his bicycle. Wagner had been charged in a 1994 rape in Lakewood and police also said genetic evidence connected him to an unsolved sexual assault in Lakewood and a 1995 assault in Austin, Texas. Smith criticized the police department’s handling of the DNA evidence in the case. Former officer Michelle Direzza testified that the rape kit containing semen samples from the September 1993 attacker wasn’t refrigerated because there was no room in the evidence refrigerator. Wagner appeared as Tim Barnett in more than 20 adult gay films produced in the early 1990s. A West Hollywood, CA film producer confirmed Wagner’s participation.

Police Beat Former gay porn star to be tried in rapes of four women Friday, August 27, 2004
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A judge has ruled that enough evidence exists to try a Glenwood Springs real estate agent and former gay porn star for the rapes of four Boulder women. Bradford Wagner, 36, appeared before Boulder County Judge Noel Blum on Aug. 20. His arraignment on 10 felony charges, including first-degree sexual assault, is set for Oct. 8. Wagner, who remained jailed on $1 million bond, has also been charged in a 1994 rape in Lakewood. Boulder police arrested Wagner in June after they said DNA evidence linked him to four violent rapes in Boulder’s Tantra Lake apartment complex between 1993 and 1998. An undercover police officer surreptitiously collected DNA samples from Wagner, his car, his Glenwood Springs home and his bicycle. The Colorado Bureau of Investigations said tests showed it matched DNA gleaned from the Boulder rapes. Wagner’s attorney, Wilbur Smith, criticized the police department’s handling of the DNA evidence. Wagner appeared as Tim Barnett in more than 20 films produced in the early 1990s