15 February and a four-seater Piper Arrow was circling over the runway at Castle Airport in Atwater California desperately trying to extend its main gear. A flight-school maintenance technician named Gonzalez wanted to hook the stuck gear-leg down with a long rod while the aircraft flew down the runway just above a pickup truck with Gonzalez and others riding in the tray. A Merced County Sheriff's Department Deputy violently disagreed, asserting that it seemed far too dangerous to him. Gonzalez ignored him and proceeded to organize the mission. The Deputy decided that his authority was better demonstrated than merely asserted and he shot the maintenance technician for the American School of Aviation with his Taser.

Lupe Gonzalez, 47, was stunned. So were the other members of ASA that were present. They staunchly deny that Gonzalez had become belligerent and that his good intentions warranted such an extreme action. We think that, for the field of law enforcement, it might be a gray area - and that the officer would've been better off sitting in his black and white, preparing a report..... or if so inclined, a citation.

The airplane eventually landed with only minor damage. Gonzalez wasn't there to see it. He'd been arrested for "obstruction", which is considered a misdemeanor.