Police say Taser Mom had earlier arrests

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- A northeast Missouri mother accused of using her 1-year-old son to shield a man from a Taser has had other dust-ups with the law, as recently as Sunday, police said.

Maliea Martin, 20, of Hannibal was arrested on suspicion of felony endangering the welfare of a child and interfering with an arrest for allegedly putting her child in the line of fire of a Taser on Tuesday night.

Two days earlier, on Mother's Day, she was arrested for allegedly shoplifting more than $750 worth of merchandise from a Wal-Mart Super Center. And on April 27, she was accused of making a false report of a crime, claiming that someone had tried to kick in her door, Hannibal Police Capt. James Hark said.

"You can lie to police, shoplift and so forth, but this last matter of endangering the welfare of a child, this will be the last tolerated in the judicial process," Hark said. "I'm sure charges will be filed by the prosecuting attorney."

Marion County prosecutor Tom Reddington was in court Thursday and did not return several calls seeking comment.

Police did not fire the Taser and the boy was not hurt. He's in the care of a family member.

Martin does not have a listed phone number. Authorities don't know if she has an attorney. She was released Wednesday after a 24-hour hold at the Marion County Jail in Palmyra.

Police said they were at an apartment checking on an assault claim made by Martin on Tuesday night when a man confronted them, making threats. One of the officers displayed a Taser as the man approached.

Hark said Martin grabbed her child and put him in the Taser's path between the officer and the man, so that the "laser light was shining on the child."

He said the officer pointed the gun away and turned it off without firing. Joshua McAtee, 22, was taken into custody and faces municipal charges of resisting arrest.

Hark said he is unsure of any relationship between Martin and McAtee, only that they lived in the same building. He said there was no evidence to suggest anyone had assaulted her.