From NewsOne (via the AP):
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WEBSTER, Texas โ Police used a Taser on a pastor and pepper spray to disperse his congregants Wednesday after the pastor allegedly interfered with a traffic stop in the church parking lot.
Congregants say they were in the Iglesia Profetica Peniel church for an early morning prayer when pastor Jose Elias Moran went to assist the stopped driver, a church member, by asking the police what had happened.
An incident report on the Webster police departmentโs Web site said Officer Raymond Berryman tried to calm Moran and arrest him. But police say he pushed the officer, went inside the church and returned with 40 other congregants.
The congregants say Moran fled into the church when the officer grew angry and began to yell, and Moranโs family disputes that the pastor touched the officer.
Moranโs son Miguel said 30 witnesses saw the officer turn aggressive and repeatedly kick the church door. Several members were hit with pepper spray and children were present, Miguel Moran said.
โThey treated him as if he were a drug dealer or murderer, but he is a pastor that tries to help the community,โ Moran said. โThe police always want to be right but they are not.โ
Moranโs wife, Maria, said she tried to help her husband after he was hit with the Taser but police threatened to arrest her.
โMy husband has a heart condition and with electrocution who knows what couldโve happened,โ Maria Moran said, referring to the Taserโs electrical shock.
โA pastor has to tend to his flock,โ she said. โThat is all he was doing.โ
Speaking from a hospital bed Wednesday night, Moran told The Associated Press he planned to hire an attorney to file charges against the officer. He was being held at the hospital overnight for additional tests.
UmmโฆDon't interfere with traffic stops unless you're 'bout it.
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