Police Mistake Blind Man’s Cane For Samurai Sword, Stun Him

If you’re an officer on the lookout for a drunk and disorderly 27-year-old man hoisting a samurai sword, you can’t be too careful when you run up against such a person. Early Friday evening, Colin Farmer, 61, of Chorley Lancashire, looked close enough to an intoxicated ninja for police to taser him down. He was after all carrying a walking stick which he incidentally needed to guide himself — being blind after all.

“I walk at a snail’s pace, they could have walked past me, driven past me in a van or said: ‘Drop your weapon,’” said Colin Farmer. He has suffered two strokes already, one which cost two months in the hospital, so he was angry he was put under such risk to have a third by a 50,000-volt stun gun.

Ch Supt Stuart Williams, of Lancashire police said the had “received a number of reports that a man was walking through Chorley armed with a samurai sword”

“A description of the offender was circulated to officers and patrols were sent to look for the man,” he said. “One of the officers who arrived in Chorley believed he had located the offender. Despite asking the man to stop, he failed to do so and the officer discharged his Taser.”

Apparently taking a good look at the suspect was impossible under such dangerous conditions; even a slow moving, elderly, blind man may be a ninja in disguise. It was, after all, in the heat of the moment.

“We have clearly put this man through a traumatic experience and we are extremely sorry for that,” said Williams. He says the police deeply regret the incident, but the stunned man is seeking legal recourse.

Later that night a 27-year-old man carrying a samurai sword was apprehended under suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.