University police tasered the visiting brother of a UNF student last week near Lot 18 after he refused to show them a student ID and approached them, according to a UPD report.
Matthew Williams, a non-UNF student, was also arrested Sept. 26 along with his brother, Mauvey Williams. According to the report, Matthew Williams was charged with trespassing, and Mauvey Williams was charged with criminal mischief and resisting an officer without violence. Their brother Muhammed Williams, who is a UNF student, was sent to student conduct.
This was a rare recorded occasion of UNF’s UPD using a Taser since the department first got them April 1, 2010. UPD office manager Barbara Dupuis said Tuesday afternoon that Chief John Dean, Asst. Chief Mark Richardson, Sgt. Shawn Faulkner, Officer Thomas White and Det. Phil Kearney were unavailable to speak to the media that day.
When the Spinnaker asked Muhammed Williams about the incident Tuesday, he would only confirm that the two men with him are his brothers, and he offered to answer more questions Wednesday.
According to a UPD report, the three men were playing basketball on the second floor in the UNF Arena. An assistant director for sports facilities asked them to put on their shirts and produce student IDs. A short time later, the assistant director saw them on the first floor and again asked to see student IDs. The men refused, and UPD was called in.
According to the police report, Sgt. Shawn Faulkner and Officer Heather Strayer arrived and asked the men three times to show their student IDs. The men refused and left the arena. The officers followed them out and continued to ask for the IDs. The three men claimed the questioning was discriminatory and threatened to sue UPD. After following the men through Lot 18 and to the Central Parkway entrance, Sgt. Faulkner told the men not to come back to campus.
One of the men (either Mauvey or Matthew; police were unsure) returned to the officers to protest that their behavior was discriminatory, the report said. Sgt. Faulkner called in Lt. Tammy Oliver, Det. Phil Kearney and Officer Kathleen Halstead. The man refused further requests for ID. Det. Kearney and Officer Halstead went to where the other two men were sitting and asked them for ID. Sgt. Faulkner and Officer Strayer escorted the first man to a patrol car. At that point, his two brothers ran toward the officers. Sgt. Faulkner tried to stop Matthew Williams from advancing, but he continued and then evaded the officer.
Sgt. Faulkner pulled out his Taser and chased the man, the report said. After the sergeant told the man to stop, the man turned and headed toward the sergeant. Sgt. Faulkner fired his Taser and missed. The man got tangled in the Taser wires, though, and was stunned.
The report said Jacksonville Fire and Rescue arrived to evaluate the condition of the men. Mauvey and Matthew Williams were arrested. Officer Strayer said Mauvey Williams kicked out the left rear window of her patrol car at the Duval County jail, causing $500 in damage.
