July 12, 2009
Bismarck, N.D.
A woman was detained near Bismarck yesterday for looking up. The woman was sighted by a North Dakota state highway patrolman, sitting on a rock in a sparsely populated area about 50 miles from Bismarck, looking up. (See photo)
The patrolman stopped and observed the woman looking up for several minutes before approaching her with his taser gun. He asked the woman if she was aware she was breaking the law by looking up.
According to the trooper's written report of the incident, the woman said, "Are you telling me the state of North Dakota has a law that makes it illegal for anyone to look up?" When the patrolman assured her there was such a law, the woman began laughing hysterically and jumping back and forth from one foot to another, while still looking up continuously. "She just kept saying over and over, look at me, I'm looking up," according to the trooper.
"I concluded she was either having a conniption fit or was engaged in an act of civil disobedience," said the trooper, "and felt I had a duty to take her in. But because of how she was acting, I needed to taser her to calm her down. It worked; she was out like a light and I had to drag her into the back seat of the cruiser. I was careful not to touch any part of her body except her arms and legs and a little push on her butt so I could close the door to the car."
When the officer and the woman arrived at the county jail, the duty officer at the station explained to the patrolman that he had misunderstood the law, which was enacted to prevent men from looking up women's dresses without their permission. The trooper said, "Oh, gosh. I'm sorry....I can take her back there if you want."
On regaining consciousness from the taser blast the woman indicated she preferred to remain at the station and contact her attorney.
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