For the first time Durham Constabulary officers have used an electric stun gun to apprehend a suspect.
Just 24 hours after the Taser guns were issued to firearms officers in the Durham and Darlington force, police were called to an incident in Peterlee Town Centre early on Sunday evening.
A man had first been seen with a knife walking in the town's Yoden Way and later at knifepoint ordered a man to hand over his car, when the driver refused the suspect ran towards the shopping centre and was tracked down to a local bar.
The man was challenged outside the hotel and after ignoring the police warning was fired on with a Taser.
After being arrested and checked by a doctor, the man is now undergoing questioning at Peterlee Police Station.
The Taser, developed in America fires out barbs which then deliver an electric charge.
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