Shocking

Another news flash from the Land of Andy Lee provides additional insight to the secret lives of officers of the Rogers Police Department. This time it is not downloading computer porn or the favorite pastime of pretending to be a 13-year old girl on the internet. It doesn't involve the usual practice of illegal searches or even the pre-crime arrests for wearing sun glasses. Not even the normal lying, racial profiling, sexual assault, or sexual indecency with a child. It is even more bizarre.

Police Chief Steve Helms is conducting an inquiry into allegations that Lt. David Mitchell has a fetish for amusing himself by electronically tasering a cow with a standard issue RPD Taser Gun. It seems he also videotaped himself engaging in cow abuse for pleasure. Chief Helms declined to talk with The Morning News about the details of the allegation, and Lt. Mitchell did not return phone messages left Tuesday on his department voice mailbox.

"It is our understanding that the alleged incident occurred while Lt. Mitchell was off duty, that the Taser's darts were not removed from the cow's flesh afterward, and that Lt. Mitchell apparently found the incident so amusing that it was recently set to music and distributed as a joke among his friends and colleagues," wrote Stephanie Bell, PETA's senior cruelty caseworker in a complaint filed on February 11.

In the video, Lt. Mitchell apparently mocked the state's weak misdemeanor law on animal cruelty. City Attorney Ben Lipscomb, who is running for District Judge, said the incident happened beyond the statute of limitations for misdemeanors, so there would be no point in pursuing an investigation as a criminal matter. After all, it is not like Mitchell was neglecting the cow or trying to sell it on the side of the road. Mayor Steve Womack said it was clear the incident happened, and the city would take action if "city equipment is being used for someone's personal enjoyment and entertainment."

Maybe it was a training video?