Only one of two Taser devices used during a recent arrest was effective in subduing a man charged with trafficking cocaine.

Lt. Jayme Cole of Kent City Police said the first Taser device didn’t actually strike Jeremy A. Dalton.

“It didn’t connect,” Cole said.

According to the police report, Dalton was carrying 17.9 grams of cocaine at the time of the arrest.

Portage County Sheriff Duane Kaley said the amount has a street value of about $1,700.

Mike Parisi, who lives next to the place of arrest on University Drive, said Dalton continued to resist arrest after the first device was used. Parisi wasn’t involved in the incident.

It was “visually apparent” to the officers that the probes from the first didn’t connect with Dalton, Cole said.

Following the first Taser, Parisi said the officers tackled Dalton and used a second Taser device.

He said the devices are used when necessary, and there are various factors that go into determining when use is appropriate. Cole cited size of the subject as a factor along with environmental factors, such as if it is raining during an arrest or if there is gasoline present.

According to the police report, Dalton is 6 feet tall and 190 pounds.

Cole said no tests are run on the device to determine the number of times it was used on Dalton, but Taser use, like any use of force, is documented in a case report.

There is nothing mandating the testing of Taser devices, but some devices can be tested, said Jennifer Brindisi, press secretary for Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI&I).

“Information can be retrieved on some electrical restraint devices indicating when it was used and how many times,” Brindisi said.

She added that the device used to subdue Heidi Gill of Warren after she got into an argument with a bartender is being tested at the BCI&I Richfield labs.

Cole said Taser operation is part of basic training for Kent Police. The training involves an eight-hour class that includes both written and hands-on testing.

According to the police report, the trafficking in drugs charge against Dalton is a third-degree felony.

Dalton is scheduled for a preliminary hearing today at 8:45 a.m.

Contact city editor Amadeus Smith at [email protected].