Crime & Safety

Knife-Wielding Teen Tased By Police, Transported to Hospital

The 14-year-old suspect has Prader Wili Syndrome and is cognitively much younger than his actual age, according to reports.

A Hartland teen was transported to Saint Joseph Hospital in Livingston County after police were forced to use a taser on the 14-year-old for refusing to drop two butcher knives he is suspected of using and threatening several people with.

According to a police report from the Livingston County Sheriff's Department, the mother of the 14-year-old boy told police that her son has Prader Wili Syndrome which means that cognitively he is much younger than his actual age and he does not understand what he does.

According to Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezzotte, on November 14, the 14-year-old grabbed two butcher knives from his home after an argument with his babysitter and threatened her and his 11-year-old brother.

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The younger brother called his mother who told him and the babysitter to lock themselves in the bathroom and that she was on her way home, according to Bezotte. 

The babysitter then explained to the mother that the 14-year-old was walking through the cul-de-sac in their neighborhood, Bezotte said, where he knocked on a neighbor's door. 

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“The (neighbor) in this case, who called 911, says he heard a knock on the door and opens the door and this guy kind of lunges at him with the knife and says, ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Bezotte said.

According to Bezotte, the neighbor, who was home with his 3-year-old granddaughter, was able to push the suspect back out the door and called 911. While he was on the phone, however, Bezotte says the 14-year-old entered the home through a different door.

“The 3-year-old was watching TV and so he told his three-year-old to run to the office and lock herself in,” Bezotte said. “He (neighbor) got a chair and forced him (suspect) out the back door and that’s when deputies arrived on scene.”

Bezotte said that police officers negotiated with the suspect for 20 to 25 minutes requesting that the teen drop the knives, but that the 14-year-old was not communicating and was unresponsive.

“They finally ended up tasing him and took him into custody,” he said.

According to the police report, the mother of the teen said that her son is currently seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist and that he has been more "agitated lately but never has acted like this before."

On Friday, there was no status update regarding the teen’s condition and Bezotte said that the neighbor reported to police that there had been no other incidents regarding the suspect in the past.


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