Reporter gets shock treatment

I let the police shoot me with a Taser gun, and boy, did it hurt.

It felt like someone slammed a spiked two-by-four into my back and then the ground around me got hit by lightning. Tiny fires of electric pain pulsed through my muscles. The little bit of control I had was dedicated to the mantra: "It's five seconds. Five seconds."

That's how long a Taser stun lasts. For some reason, back in 2004 I agreed to be shot by the newest weapon in the police department's arsenal. Afterall, I thought then, a good reporter does her research. Well, these days I would take someone else's word for it.

Back then, I figured: Five seconds of pain is nothing compared to growing up with eight brothers. I've had my hair catch on fire from wrestling near the stove. I've been stabbed by a tree. I thought for sure I'd lost the tip of my thumb during a door-slamming incident.

So, what's five seconds?

My head snapped back. The jolt lifted me to my tiptoes. My legs stiffened. My whole body was a funny bone.

By the time I got out an "ouch," it was over. (I swear I did not swear.)

(NOTE: To see slideshow, click on the black outline and then the small triangle at the bottom. Clicking the big triangle in the center will open a new window.)


Taser guns shoot two barbed probes the size of a fishhook into a suspect's skin or clothing. Coated steel wires, 21 feet long, carry the electrical charge. The shot overrides the body's central nervous system, stopping most targets in their tracks.

My back hurt for days following the attack, and it was unsettling to remember, but I got the story, along with a slideshow of images, thanks to photographer Trish O'Blenes. The cops bought me a beer afterward.

My brother Bob said, "Of all us boys, who would have thought Becky would be the first to get hit with a Taser?" They weren't angels, or strangers to the law growing up. I have finally taken a risk that my roof-diving, fight-starting, nose-breaking, machete-swinging-and-missing brothers -- who are known to break bones while recovering from broken bones -- have not.

But next time, I'll just take quotes from the sidelines.