INSIDE EDITION reports on an elderly man who was tasered in his own home by sheriff's deputies after he was treated by paramedics for a leg injury.
An elderly man writhes in agony on his own living room floor as he's being tasered by cops.
And if you think this sounds like an unbelievable sight, wait until you hear the story behind the tasing.
His name is Peter McFarland. He's a 64-year-old cancer survivor with a heart condition. His lawyer John Scott explains what happened, saying, "My client and his wife were returning from a fundraiser. And as he was going home, he tripped and fell. He was so injured he couldn't get up."
McFarland's wife called 911 and asked for medical asssitance. Paramedics helped him into his house in Marin County outside San Francisco and treated him on the scene.
"As the paramedics were leaving, two Sherriff deputies came into the home uninvited. And basically what happened after that is on the videotape," said Scott.
Images were captured by a camera mounted on the taser gun. The light beam from the gun could be seen trained straight at McFarland's heart as a cop speaks with him. McFarland's pants are ripped at the knee from the fall.
"It appears that one of the officers believed that Mr. McFarland was somehow suicidal," said Scott.
McFarland insisted he was not suicidal. That he was merely tired and in pain. But that's when things really got heated.
On the video, the officer said, "Stand up. Put your hands behind your back or you're going to be tased."
McFarland said, "What the (expletive deleted) are you doing in my house? I didn't ask you in my house. Get out of here!"
"Sit down! Put your hands behind your back! Put your hands behind your back," exclaimed the officer.
McFarland ignores the command and gets to his feet. And that's when it happens. McFarland is tased a total of three times. The video actually shows the current surrounding his body as his wife pleads for the cops to stop.
"Stop resisting! Stop resisting! Stop resisting or you'll get it again," said the officer.
INSIDE EDITION showed the tape to personal security expert Steve Kardian, a former cop and asked, was this necessary?
"It's something that the officer is going to have to justify. Often we only need one tasering. Sometimes we need three. In this case they felt justified that three tasers was enough to take him into custody without causing injury," said Kardian.
McFarland was charged with resisting arrest—a charge that was later dismissed. He's now suing the Marin County Sheriff's Department.
The Marin County Sherrif's Department told INSIDE EDITION they are taking this allegation of excessive force and misconduct seriously, and they are confident the deputies acted within the law.
