PHOENIX — Multiple Arizona police agencies are permanently discontinuing their use of less-lethal bean bags and stun-bag shotguns.
The decision to move away from the weapon comes after Phoenix police said some of their bean bags were traveling at an abnormally high velocity and causing “injuries that were inconsistent with historical use.”
Officials with the Phoenix Police Department, Goodyear Police Department and Arizona Department of Public Safety tell ABC15 they have all gotten rid of bean bag shotguns, and the specific brand Super-Sock after investigating velocity issues.
ABC15 first reported in October that multiple Valley departments were suspending less-lethal shotgun use to investigate potential velocity issues.
At the same time, Phoenix PD was documenting serious injuries, the Mesa Police Department had a severe case of Super-Sock ‘penetration’ that left a Valley grandfather hospitalized for six days.
THE SHOOTING
Relatives say Richard Charon has struggled with mental health issues for years. The 49-year-old goes by Ricky.
“Basically, it's schizoaffective [disorder], which is a combination of bipolar disorder, and [being] schizophrenic,” said Melissa Veres, Ricky’s younger sister.
“He's not even the same person now,” said Shalyn Charon, Ricky’s daughter.
On September 13, 2022, just before midnight, Ricky was having a mental health episode.
According to police reports, a neighbor called 911 to report him pacing and “screaming angrily” in front of his mother’s house. As officers were responding, the neighbor told dispatchers she saw Ricky fire a pistol in the air.
When officers arrived on the scene, one wrote that they gave “commands to drop the gun and he walked away from the house with his hands above his head and [the officer] no longer saw the firearm.”
Relatives say the subsequent police commands led to confusion.
“One of the commands they gave him was, ‘Lift your shirt up by the collar,’” said Shalyn. “So to him that was like, lift your shirt up. So he lifted it up from his waistband.”
An officer also wrote in his report, “I commanded Richard to grab the top of the collar of his shirt to expose his waistband, but he reached for his waistband with his left hand and two bean bag rounds were deployed onto Richard.”
Police say Ricky ran and hid behind his truck after being shot. Crime scene photos would later reveal he was already bleeding.
After more commands and a back and forth, officers convinced Ricky to come out from hiding. They began to give him more commands.
One officer wrote:
Richard began to somewhat comply with the commands he was given, and showed that there was nothing in his waistband, but he failed to follow the commands he was given following this and had beanbag rounds deployed onto him again.
After he was shot a second time with bean bags, police say Ricky ran into his mom’s house and barricaded himself.
In total, five Super-Sock bean bags were fired at Ricky.
Three of the rounds went into Ricky.
‘SIGNIFICANT INJURIES’
Hospital photos showed holes in his calf where three bean bags ripped open his skin.
“Abrasion burn, that's what it is,” said Ricky. “It tears and then it burns.”
Ricky told hospital staff the pain was a ten out of ten.
Two months later, he would still have golf-ball-sized craters in the back of his calf.
“It tore the tissue completely off to the point of exposing an actual tendon that's attached at the calf,” said Veres.
After being hit, Ricky retreated inside his Mom’s home. A forensic team later noted it was covered in blood.
More than three hours after officers first arrived, Mesa SWAT forced the grandfather out with tear gas. They arrested him and then took him to the hospital to get treatment for what officers called “significant injuries.”
Hospital records provided by the family show Ricky was released with ‘gunshot wound’ paperwork from Banner Desert Medical Center.
Medical staff also noted that Ricky was discharged from the hospital to police officers and then brought back to the hospital a day later because jail staff “apparently have no way to do dressing changes at the jail.”
He ended up hospitalized for five more days.
“I was pretty sure I was gonna lose it. I really didn't think I'd ever walk again,” said Ricky.
A VALLEYWIDE PROBLEM
Ricky is not the first Arizonan injured by less-lethal bean bag rounds.
Both the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Phoenix Police Department has documented overpenetration with Super-Sock.
A Phoenix Police Department spokesperson told ABC15 that between July and October 2022 they had multiple Super-Sock deployments that caused “injuries that were inconsistent with historical use.”
As a result of those injuries, the department suspended the use of the less-lethal option, alerted other Valley police agencies, and began velocity testing the product.
Phoenix PD said internal tests and third-party analysis revealed “a higher velocity than manufacturer specifications.” Those findings led Phoenix command staff to “ immediately discontinue [Super-Sock] use.”
The DPS and Goodyear PD told ABC15 they are also permanently getting rid of their Super-Sock rounds and less-lethal shotguns.
In a memo, Goodyear PD’s chief wrote in part:
[We] have determined that there is no safe way to deploy the less-lethal shotguns without running the risk of overpenetration and/or causing significant injury, above and beyond the expected effects of a typically performing less-lethal shotgun. We have no way of knowing which round(s) may be defective and I do not believe that is a risk that we want to accept…Furthermore, the manufacturer of the CTS Super-Sock rounds, Combined Systems, has yet to address the issue, which leaves us with no affirmative timetable of when these weapon systems could once again be put into service.
With the suspension of the less-lethal shotgun system, officers are left with a few options, including the Taser, pepper spray, and the Bola Wrap, but each of these options require officers to be much closer to potentially violent offenders, and none of these systems is 100% effective in every situation. In essence, the officers’ ability to maintain distance and de-escalate volatile situations is severely hampered, raising the likelihood of having to engage in a potentially lethal encounter.
Since October, ABC15 has repeatedly emailed and called the manufacturer, Combined Systems, Inc.
The company has not responded to questions, but employees confirmed the CEO was receiving ABC15’s questions regarding velocity concerns, serious injuries, communication with Valley police departments, and internal testing.
CHANGING POLICY
Mesa PD declined ABC15’s on-camera interview requests but said their officers are still using Super-Sock. They are not alone as Peoria PD and MCSO are also continuing to use the brand after conducting testing.
Mesa’s Assistant Police Chief Dan Butler told ABC15 over the phone that less-lethal bean bags have been “a very useful tool for a long time.”
After Ricky was injured, Mesa PD also did velocity testing and determined some of their shotguns were firing Super-Sock “a little bit faster than manufacturer specs.”
So, Butler sent out a memo changing department policy.
In the memo, he discontinued use of “the Remington 870 with an 18-inch barrel and all Mossberg shotguns…while we identify alternative less-lethal munitions.”
He also told his officers that “the Remington 870 (14-inch barrel) is the only approved Bean Bag shotgun for departmental use at this time.”
The Assistant Chief also changed the "minimum distance for deployment...[to] no less than 10 yards,” which is 30 feet.
The old policy was 21 feet, and the officer wrote in his report that he shot Ricky from "approximately 20 feet away."
Finally, the memo addressed injuries, and the assistant chief stated that "deployments less than 10 yards (30 feet) can result in fatal or serious injury."
Ricky said the deployment distance in his case was “extremely close.”
ABC15 has not been able to verify that with body-camera footage, as we are still waiting on Mesa PD to release the video.
On their public records portal, the department estimates the body-worn camera footage processing time is 16-18 months.
MOVING FORWARD
Ricky changes his bandages daily, and he is now staring down reconstructive surgery as well as two felony charges for disorderly conduct and discharging a firearm.
Ricky's family believes policy changes are not enough.
They say the grandfather’s leg is proof that Super-Sock rounds can cause serious injuries, and they want the weapon and rounds pulled entirely.
“For his leg to look like it he got shot up with an actual gun, I don't think they should be using them,” said Shalyn.
“They need to find something different,” said Veres, “that's not causing this type of devastation to somebody, and the whole family. Our whole family is just traumatized.”
WHAT’S NEXT
ABC15 has learned there is another bean bag brand that Valley departments admit has caused serious injuries in the past. Some departments have stopped using it entirely.
In the future, we will be investigating that issue and the extent of the velocity issues by looking at police departments’ testing reports that we are currently waiting to receive.
If you or someone you know has been injured by a less-lethal bean bag, you can contact Zach at zach.crenshaw@abc15.com
