Guide Note

Scott Nugent is a former Winnfield, Louisiana, police officer who allegedly killed suspect Baron Pikes by shocking him nine times with a Taser during an arrest. The Winn Parish coroner, Dr. Randolph Williams, ruled Nugent's death a homicide, and Nugent may face charges in connection to the incident.¹

Fast Facts

1. Hometown: Winnfield, Louisiana¹
2. Winnfield police officer until fired in May 2008¹
3. Father: Gleason Nugent¹
4. Nugent's father committed suicide in 2005, after being accused of corruption in police chief election¹
5. Killed Pikes with Taser during arrest in January 2008¹
6. Pikes wanted on cocaine charges¹
7. Winnfield police employed Tasers 14 times in first year used by the force¹
8. 12 of those 14 times, the Tasers were used to shock blacks¹
9. 10 of those 12 times, the Taser was used by Nugent¹

The death of Pike, who is black, as a result of shocks from the Taser of Nugent, who is white, stirred up racial tensions in the small Louisiana town where the incident took place. According to Williams, Pikes died after the seventh shock and Nugent administered the last two shocks to Pikes's dead body.¹