Cellphone video captures moment police taser woman, Cop placed on paid leave

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A shocking video posted to YouTube by the Tallahassee Police Department is stirring a discussion about whether a police officer was in the right when, according to an eyewitness, he "tased a lady for nothing."

To watch the video, click here. (Warning: Adult content and language)

In the video, a woman--identified as 61-year-old Viola Young--approaches a group of police officers to ask about an arrest. You can then see an officer--identified as Terry Mahan--try to grab her, and she begins to move away. As Young turns her back, Mahan raises a stun gun and strikes her in the back. Young falls to the ground.

Young was still conscious and moving, and two minutes after she fell you can see that officers helped her to her feet. Police said she was medically cleared by paramedics before being taken to the Leon County Jail. She was charged with resisting and obstructing an officer without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.

The video was shot from a nearby porch and later released by the Tallahassee Police Department. Chief Michael DeLeo said, "We want to be transparent with the community by sharing what we can at this point, including the video."

Mahan was placed on administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation.

According to police, the officers were responding to recent complaints from citizens about drug deals in the neighborhood located just a few blocks west of the governor's mansion. That is when the arrest that Young was asking about took place.

The officer standing outside the squad car advised the woman to stay back. Police said that's when Officer Terry Mahan approached Young and attempted to take her into custody.

In his police report, Mahan said that after he told people to stay back she "responded by yelling, 'I just want to know what is going on.'" Mahan said Young refused to leave and he told her she was under arrest.

The incident comes at a time when Tallahassee police have come under scrutiny. Last month, the city agreed to pay $475,000 to settle a case over the arrest of a woman who ended up with a broken bone in her face after an altercation with officers.

Video from last year's arrest of Christina West showed officers slamming her into a police car before throwing her to the ground. West can be heard screaming in the video. A grand jury decided against charging the officers in that incident but ripped Tallahassee police for how they handled the arrest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.