Man struck by Taser gun bursts into flames

A MAN whose relatives say had been sniffing gasoline burst into flames after a police officer used a Taser gun on him as he ran at officials carrying a container of fuel, police said yesterday.

The man, identified as Ronald Mitchell, 36, was in critical condition at a Perth hospital in Western Australia following Monday’s incident in Warburton, an Aboriginal community.

Police said they were responding to a complaint when Mitchell ran outside carrying a cigarette lighter and a plastic bottle containing what they believe was fuel. When he refused to stop running toward them, one officer Tasered him.