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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: Resident: Firing unnecessary (FBI shot him with a Taser and blew up his knapsack.) A Patterson man who was stopped by the FBI and police in Scarsdale, after he was spotted driving near the Kensico Reservoir wearing a military-style helmet, said yesterday that authorities overreacted when they shot him with a Taser and blew up his knapsack. "I think they all acted like idiots,'' 43-year-old Michael Jansen said of the incident Wednesday, when police evacuated about 12 houses near Post and Gorham roads and diverted traffic from the area for four hours while members of the Westchester County Bomb Squad searched his car and used a water cannon to destroy a knapsack containing batteries, wires and electronic equipment. Authorities also seized what they described as "canisters, including one containing an unknown liquid.'' Jansen said the "canister'' was a thermos filled with cranberry juice. No explosives were found, and police confirmed yesterday that tests showed the liquid was not dangerous. "None of this would have happened if they would have asked me a few questions,'' Jansen said during a telephone interview from Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he is being held for psychiatric evaluation. Jansen said he has undergone brain surgery four times since 1999 to remove a tumor and wears the helmet to protect his head. "I've been stopped by police in northern Westchester and Putnam several times," he said. "They ask me why I'm wearing a helmet, and I show them a form I have that says I've had head injuries. Until now, they've always been polite about it and let me go.'' An FBI spokesman, Agent James Margolin, could not be reached for comment yesterday but said Thursday that the case is closed and no charges will be filed against Jansen. White Plains police would not comment, saying the case belonged to the FBI. Police said an FBI task force member started following Jansen through White Plains after spotting him on Route 22 wearing the helmet and with a camera mounted on his car's dashboard. The FBI contacted White Plains police for assistance, and Jansen was stopped in Scarsdale. Jansen said he works as a freelance photographer and was on Route 22 when he noticed he was being followed while he was driving through White Plains. At that point, he said, he turned on a video camera mounted in his car and taped the entire incident. White Plains police said the tape was seized and is in the custody of the FBI. "When I got out of the car I thought it was just a traffic stop, but the police started yelling and screaming at me on a speaker and they were pointing all kinds of weapons at me," he said. "I was holding up the paper I have with a picture of my head injuries.'' Police said Jansen was shot with a Taser after he ignored several orders to stop walking toward them. Jansen said the police were about 50 yards away from him and that he couldn't understand them. He said when he did hear them say to get on the ground he didn't want to because he was afraid he might hurt his head. At that point, he was shot with the Taser, he said, and several officers took him to the ground and ripped the helmet from his head. "Would you pull a person out of a wheelchair to arrest him? I don't think so,'' Jansen said. Once at White Plains police headquarters, he said, "they treated me well, but they wouldn't let me call a lawyer or make a phone call. They questioned me for about four or five hours. But they acted more normal, and a few of them apologized and said they made a mistake.'' Jansen's mother, Christina Jansen, said police came to the apartment she shares with her son Wednesday afternoon and searched his room. "They were sent by the FBI, and I think they were embarrassed,'' she said yesterday. Jansen said he expects to be released from the hospital Monday. "When I get out the first thing I'm going to do is put my helmet on,'' he said.
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