Cops in Missouri used a taser on a man to stop him from saving his son who died in a house fire. Check out the photos in the gallery and read more on the story after the jump!
His stepson named Riley Rieser, 3, died in a house fire after his stepfather, Ryan Miller, was stopped from going into the burning house to try and save the little boy. All he wanted to do was rescue his young stepson from the burning house that he had just escaped from. But unfortunately police used a taser on the father several times to stop him from going inside. Police tased Miller three different times, which included once while he was handcuffed and he still tried to get back inside the home. Riley Rieser, died of the injuries he sustained that day while his stepdad Ryan Miller sat in a holding cell. Miller is now planning to sue the city of Louisiana, Mo. Miller told the Louisiana Press Journal after the fire, “He was my best friend…He was everybody’s best friend. If you would have met him, you would have loved him. He was the joy of my life…I was hysterical, yes, because I wanted to save my son.” Their home in Louisiana was destroyed by the blaze which was caused by faulty wiring.
According to the suit, he’s suing the city of only 3,355 for excessive negligent infliction of emotional distress, wrongful death and false imprisonment. The lawsuit reads, “Officers Jeffrey Salois and William Harrison prevented Ryan Miller from entering the home to save his stepson Riley Rieser by forcibly moving and by repeatedly tasing Ryan Miller, including once in the police cruiser as Riley Rieser was being removed from the home.”
Miller’s wife Catherine Miller are also suing their former landlord, Louis Houston. An investigation found that Houston failed to keep the home up to code and get proper permits to lease the unit. The suit says that his negligence forced the Miller’s to “expend monies for funeral and burial expenses” and “suffered burns, bruising, tasing injuries and other expenses.” Lori Miller, Miller’s mom, called the use of a taser “police brutality.” Bob Jenne, the City Administrator, said that the officer’s actions were a “judgment call over a concern that he (Ryan Miller) himself might become a casualty of the fire as well.”
Family members of Miller say that he was willing to do anything he could to save his stepson and that the cops were in the wrong. The boy’s aunt, Emily Miller said “It’s just heartless. How could they be so heartless?…And while they all just stood around and waited for the fire department, what kind of police officer wouldn’t try and save a 3-year-old burning in a house?”
Heartbreaking!
