Video: Cops Taser Mouthy, Unruly Metra Passenger

A group of loudmouth “intoxicated” Metra passengers entertained themselves Sunday night by cursing their way home from Chicago on a midnight train, munching on McDonald’s. Their fellow passengers and the conductor did not enjoy the show, however, and at the Western Avenue station a pair of cops boarded at the conductor’s request.

They were asked to leave.

One complied, but Ryan Hutchinson thought mouthing off to the cops would be funny. He thought turning his back on the cops, dodging their handcuffs, mocking the cops, and refusing to comply with their attempt to bring order to the train car was the right move.

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When confronted with a taser gun, the 20-year-old Bloomingdale resident offered a sharp retort: “Tase me, I dare you. I (effing) dare you.”

And down he went, the smirk literally buzzed right off his face as one friend wailed and others held their camera phones aloft.

“I’m not even doing anything wrong,” Hutchinson wailed, not unlike a bratty child who fails to acknowledge how his antics have crossed the line.

(Readers: This YouTube video contains foul language.)

This all happened Sunday night on the Milwaukee West Line, on train No. 2725, which was delayed 50 minutes as Metra police dealt with the obscenity-spewing passengers. Hutchinson and his friends were on their way home from the Lake Shake Music Fest in Chicago.

“Metra has a responsibility to maintain a safe environment for its riders and we take that responsibility very seriously. We will remove passengers who are being disorderly and refuse a conductor’s requests to stop. The incident could have been avoided if Mr. Hutchinson had complied with the conductor’s request to stop using obscene language,” reads a Metra statement. “The police would never have been summoned. And once the police were there, he could have followed their instructions.”

Hutchinson is now charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He’s due in court July 27.

In the sober light of day, Hutchinson has had time to reflect on the episode. Does the young man regret his jerky behavior?

“No one really deserves to have something happen to them like that, especially without given the reason,” Hutchinson told ABC Chicago as he showed off the little boo-boos on his leg.

His lawyer calls this “police brutality” and says they’re pondering a lawsuit.

What do you think: Did the police respond appropriately? Was the Taser unnecessary?