Crime & Safety
Police Use Taser on Man Who 'Charged' at Officer
Borough police say target of Taser suspected of hurting his 'partner,' smashing car windows with baseball bat.
Emmaus police subdued a borough man with a Taser one morning earlier this month after he allegedly injured his male "partner," used a baseball bat to smash the windows of a car, then "charged" at an officer.
A police news release said Shawn Patrick Flaherty, 30, who has been in the court system the last two years on drug offenses, was arrested at 10:40am Dec. 6, a Friday. The release lists Flaherty's address as W. Minor Street in the borough.
The release said police were called to the address for a domestic incident in which Flaherty allegedly threw a candle at his "partner," hitting the man in the ear and causing a laceration that required stitches to close.
Flaherty then allegedly took a baseball bat and smashed the windows of a car. Police used the Taser stun gun on him after he "charged" at an officer, the release says.
Flaherty was arraigned the night of Dec. 6 by on-duty District Judge Michael Faulkner of Upper Macungie on charges of simple assault and harassment. He was committed to Lehigh County Prison in lieu of $7,500 bail, online court records say.
The records also say Flaherty entered guilty pleas in three cases in 2011 and 2012. In a 2011 Lower Milford case, he pleaded guilty to the use and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The records list two guilty pleas in 2012: a Nov. 27 guilty plea for drug possession in a case handled by Lehigh County detectives, and a June 29 guilty plea for drug possession and resisting arrest in a Coopersburg case.