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State Trooper Threatens To Taser Cooperative NFL Player [VIDEO]

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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A highway patrolman has been suspended after he threatened to use a Taser during a traffic stop on an NFL player who seemed to be cooperative.

Dashcam footage shows South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. R.S. Salter pulling over Sam Montgomery, who was driving 89 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Montgomery, a 6-foot-3, 262-pound defensive lineman who recently signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, appeared calm throughout the stop.

In the video, obtained by the Associated Press, Salter, a 14 year veteran of the force, orders Montgomery out of his vehicle and informs him he is under arrest.

“Spread your feet. Spread your feet. Wider, wider, wider,” Salter barks.

“Reach out, palms up,” he yells twice.

Montgomery seems to be complying with Salter’s commands but appears to have trouble keeping up with their rapid-fire pace.

“Sir, if you cannot follow my orders, next thing you’re going to get is the Taser,” Salter says.

“Whoa, I’m not trying to cause any problems,” Montgomery replies.

“Spread your feet, palms up toward the sky, behind your back, do not move,” says Salter, as he slaps cuffs on Montgomery and informs him “25 over, you get arrested.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know,” Montgomery says.

Tension cleared after that point, as Salter tells Montgomery, “you could have killed somebody.”

Montgomery apologizes and says that he was trying to get home to visit his mother.

“Bad deal,” Montgomery says later. “Trying to get home. I’ll take the lick. I was wrong.”

Salter offered to come to court to help the player with his ticket.

Nevertheless, Montgomery spent the night in jail and was released the next morning on $355 bond.

Salter was suspended following a “self-initiated” internal investigation.

“Salter’s behavior during the traffic stop of Mr. Montgomery was not representative of professionalism displayed by our troopers and officers every day around the state,” the South Carolina highway patrol said in a statement released Monday.

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