A man allegedly tased by former Michigan State Police trooper Mark Bessner is speaking out after a recent filing by the Wayne County Prosecutors office alleged a pattern of misconduct in four other tasing instances.
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Forrest Harvey says he remembers the night like the back of his hand. He says he was riding his ATV on 7 Mile whe he was pulled over and allegedly tased in a matter of seconds.
"He done this before, this was nothing new to him," said Harvey.
Harvey says when he saw former MSP trooper Mark Bessner in handcuffs, he felt a sense of relief.
"You get what you deserve. What was done in the dark will eventually come into the light," said Harvey.
Harvey was allegedly tased by Bessner in July 2017.
"My whole body stiffened up and I fell off my bike. I asked him, I kept asking him repeatedly, why did you tase me? You didn’t have to tase me," Harvey says.
Prosecutor Kim Worthy’s office wants to introduce four other instances of alleged taser abuse by Bessner.
"When I look at this officers background it’s unfortunate that supervision was not there and the accountability was not there," said Detroit Board of Commissioners Willie Bell.
Harvey says he was pulled over at a gas station near Hoover and 7 Mile when he encountered Bessner.
"The officer told me to put my hands up, cut my bike off. I was cutting my bike off and putting my hands up, then he started tasing me, so I really didn’t have a chance to put my hands up at all," said Harvey.
According Worthy’s office, dash cam video doesn’t show Harvey acting aggressively before he was tased.
Bessner is on trial for murder after tasing 15-year-old Damon Grimes, a little more than a month after allegedly tasing Harvey.
"I honestly do think that it could have been me. It could have been worse than what it was, but I’m glad that it wasn’t, and I'm sorry for the family that loss the young guy," said Harvey.
Harvey spent two weeks in the Macomb County jJil for eluding, fleeing and assaulting police after the incident last July.
