An 86-year-old South Carolina man was sent to intensive care after police officers tased him during a traffic stop Monday, Oct. 16.

South Carolina's Post and Courier reported that Kingstree’s Police Officer Stephen Sweikata deployed his taser after Albert Chatfield refused to comply with the officer's commands.

Chatfield was pulled over for allegedly tailgating and running a red light. When he was stopped, Chatfield got out of his vehicle and started walking in and out of lanes of traffic according to police reports.

The senior citizen's family says the victim has dementia and does not pose a threat to anyone but the officer tased Chatfield because he believed he posed a threat to himself.

“Because traffic was still moving … and I was afraid that Mr. Chatfield would be struck by a vehicle had this continued,” Sweikata said. Sweikata and Lt. Carl Scott, who is black, told Chatfield to get on the ground but the elderly gentlemen refused to do so. Police Chief James Barr claimed Chatfield "was in a rage and trying to fight in the middle of the highway.” And that was the moment the taser was used. 

“He wouldn’t hurt anybody,” said his daughter, Jodi Mack of North Carolina. “He would only make you hurt laughing.”

Chatfield entered the hospital immediately and was hospitalized for four days. According to the family attorney Justin Bamberg, the victim has suffered bleeding on his brain and a broken nose, likely from the fall to the pavement. He awoke from the medically induced coma unable to speak normally and in tears. 

“If you cannot restrain an 86-year-old, you need to eat some spinach,” said  Justin Bamberg, a state lawmaker who also represented Scott’s family. “It’s unconstitutional to tase someone just because they’re not listening. Plus, he’s 86.”

There is no word as of this report about whether the officers will be reprimanded for their actions.