Crime & Safety
Man Tasered during Arrest for Possession of Cannabis
Kron Harbin of Bellwood also arrested for resisting arrest, battery and two outstanding drug warrants.
A 22-year-old man from Bellwood had to be subdued with a Taser as police were trying to arrest him the afternoon of Jan. 11 for possession of cannabis, police said.
Authorities charged Kron Harbin with possession of cannabis, resisting a police officer and battery.
Harbin also was arrested for outstanding warrants out of Jackson County. One open warrant was for failing to appear in court for drug possession and the other for violating probation on a charge of possession with intent to deliver cannabis. The latter had just been issued Jan. 7.
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The warrants turned up during a random check on a 2009 Kia Spectra parked in the 100 block of Brown Avenue that belonged to Harbin.
The officer approached the driver, who rolled down the window. He asked the driver his name and told him he needed to get out of the car because it looked like he had an outstanding warrant out of Jackson County. The officer then told Harbin the warrant appeared to be for cannabis possession and pointed out that it smelled like cannabis in the car, police said. Authorities said Harbin closed the window and reached for the gearshift lever.
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Police said the officer commanded him to turn off the car and come out. Harbin at that point got out of the car. The officer asked Harbin for his ID and he told police he did not have it. Police spoke with Harbin briefly about the Jackson County warrants and noticed that he was looking around during the conversation in a way that police believed that he might flee.
The officer took out his handcuffs, told Harbin he was under arrest and told him he would remove the cuffs if the warrant wasn't valid. He grabbed Harbin's wrist and told him to place his hands behind his back. Harbin turned, pulled his left arm away from the officer and pushed him in the chest while he began to run up the parkway. The officer grabbed onto his sweater as he fled tearing it away from his body. At that point, the officer took out his Taser and struck him in the back. Harbin fell in front of a home in the 100 block of Brown where he was handcuffed.
During a custodial search, police found a plastic bag containing a green leafy substance that turned out to be 13 grams of cannabis inside of his right front pants pocket.
