Sportscasters on ESPN debated the incident, revealing that the boy requested permission from his father to run on the field. Consalvi called his father who told him that it may not be a good idea.
“I don’t recommend running on the field but I don’t think they should have tasered him at all,” said father Wayne Consalvi to the Philadelphia Daily News.
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The question among sports fans now is whether a young kid who gets excited at a sporting event deserves to meet with violent opposition from local police over something that can be easily handled with patience and professionalism. The boy does seem to have learned his lesson.
“It was inappropriate for him to be out there on the field. Unless I read something to the contrary, that officer acted appropriately. I support him 100 percent,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner to KYW Radio.
Many Phillies fans are claiming that the boy was not a threat to anyone and that many people have rushed the stands without being shot with a Taser gun. From a legal perspective the baseball field is private property that the young man had been allowed to enter. His venturing into a restricted area does not directly warrant being shot with an electrical charge from a city police officer. One could equally argue that the young boy was obstructing business for advertising investors, Major League Baseball, as well as all of the fans that paid money to watch the game thus making it a criminal offense, no official charges have been announced on either side.
Security officials from Citizens Bank Park have dealt with fans rushing the field without shooting them with a Taser gun in the past but there is a first time for everything. Consalvi wanted to increase the intensity of his experience at the game, which he described as a “once in a life time experience.” It seems he got what he was looking for.
