The sound was the worst part.

Not so much my own agonized groans through clenched teeth, or the baseball card on bicycle spokes sound of 50,000 volts rattling from the Taser. What sticks with me is the steady beeping of the Taser counting off five seconds of the most agonizing pain I've experienced.

OK, maybe the pain - like the worst cramp of my life pulsing through my entire body 17 times a second - was the worst part of agreeing to ride the lightning at the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 30.

But I heard the Taser's countdown beep at the first second. At the second beep, I realized there were three beeps left until the pain stopped.

That was terrifying.

And then it was over. I was on my feet and back at the Times-News to finish my shift within minutes. Of course, I got up knowing I wouldn't be shocked again. Had the officer on the trigger end of the Taser been yelling at me to stay down, I'd have listened.

My first - and hopefully only - Taser experience was painful but ultimately not as bad as it might sound. Most of those 50,000 volts were spent on arcing the charge into my body, as the maximum voltage delivered to a target of a Taser X26 like I was hit with is about 1,200 volts, according Taser's Web site. The shock creates what TASER calls neuromuscular incapacitation, as the target loses the ability to perform coordinated action.

I also took the hit lying down, knowing I wouldn't suffer injury from falling as my brain lost touch with my body. I didn't have to worry about being stuck by the devious-looking barbs on the Taser's pair of probes, meant to penetrate a target's clothing, either. One probe was stuck in my right shoe, the other on my left hip under my belt.

Firsthand knowledge of what a resisting criminal goes through when being hit by a Taser is something I could have done without.

But I'll give it this much: it's better than a bullet.

Eric Larsen may be reached at elarsen@magicvalley.com or 208-735-3220.

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