Police Officer Who Tasered UCLA Student Identified

LOS ANGELES, November 21, 2006 (KABC) -- The UCLA police officer videotaped using a Taser gun on a student also shot a homeless man at a campus study hall room three years ago and was recommended for dismissal in connection with an alleged assault on fraternity row, it was reported Tuesday.

UCLA police confirmed last night that the officer who fired the Taser gun was Terrence Duren, who has served in the university's Police Department for 18 years.

Duren, named officer of the year in 2001, has been involved in several controversial incidents on campus. But in an interview with The Los Angeles Times Monday night, the 43-year-old Duren defended his record and urged people to withhold judgment until the review of his Taser use is completed.

While he would not directly talk about why he used the Taser on the student, he told The Times that a videotape of any arrest doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

"If someone is resisting, sometimes it's not going to look pretty taking someone into custody," he said.

A student's cellphone video of the incident has been broadcast around the world and focused much criticism on the officer.

The incident occurred about 11 p.m. Nov. 14 in a library filled with students studying for midterm examinations. Senior Mostafa Tabatabainejad, 23, was asked by Duren and other university police officers for his ID as part of a routine procedure to make sure that everyone using the library after 11 p.m. is a student or otherwise authorized to be there.

Authorities said Tabatabainejad refused to provide identification or leave. Officers decided to use the Taser to incapacitate him after he went limp while they were escorting him out and after he urged other library patrons to join his resistance, according to the university's account.

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