A Vancouver police officer who pressed a Taser against a theft suspect’s exposed genitals and threatened to “Tase” him was found not guilty of the fourth-degree assault charge Clark County prosecutors filed against her last year.
Officer Andrea Mendoza will remain on administrative leave as the Vancouver Police Department’s internal investigation resumes now that the trial is over, the department said Monday.
During the May 21, 2023, incident, Mendoza was trying to arrest 19-year-old Elijah Jaden Guffey-Prejean for theft outside of a Walmart when she shot him in the back with a Taser, which provides an electrical shock, according to court records and video released of the arrest. Seconds later, Mendoza pulled down the teenager’s pants and underwear, pressed the Taser against his penis and threatened to pull the trigger, records show.
“Knock it off or I’ll do it in your nuts,” Mendoza can be heard yelling in body-camera footage of the arrest. “I will (expletive) Tase you in the nuts.”
“I’m done. I promise I’m done,” Guffey-Prejean said, and stopped resisting. Officers handcuffed Guffey-Prejean.
Mendoza’s supervisor later reviewed the officer’s bodycam footage and then asked Police Chief Jeff Mori to watch. Mori forwarded the footage to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for an independent investigation, which then sent the case to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Mendoza was charged July 26, about two months after the incident.
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