IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. — It was May 30 of last year, the day before Memorial Day. Michael Clark, a 75-year-old retired railroad worker, spent much of the day putting American flags on soldiers' graves at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.
Afterwards, he went home to his apartment in Idaho Springs. Around 10:30 at night, he woke up to the sound of someone pounding on his door, having no idea that his life was about to take a significant turn for the worse.
"It has been a journey," Clark said.
It all began with a call for an assault at Clark's apartment building. Clark's next-door neighbor said Clark attacked her, though there's no evidence he ever left his apartment that night.
"I did nothing wrong," Clark said.
The police report states that two Idaho Springs police officers spoke with Clark's neighbor and noticed she may have been drunk. Body camera video shows the officers then knocked on Clark's door without announcing themselves as police.
Not knowing who it was, Clark said he grabbed a small novelty sword -- a long ago gift from his brother-in-law -- and answered the door.
The officers told him to put the sword down. He did, but 19 seconds later and without any warning, Officer Nicholas Hanning tasered Clark, setting off a chain of medical events from which Clark is still recovering: A heart attack, a stroke, several seizures, and months in the hospital and physical rehabilitation facilities.
"You might say I was knocking on death's door, a lot," Clark said.
Soon after the incident, Idaho Springs Police fired Hanning. He was initially charged with felony assault but later took a plea to a misdemeanor and faced up to two years in jail. A few weeks ago, a judge sentenced Hanning to two years probation, though Clark and his family have been clear all along that they wanted Hanning to spend time behind bars.
"He thought he was the law. He's not the law, he has to obey the law like everybody else," Clark said. "What he did was totally irresponsible, and criminal, and he never spent one day in jail. I think it was a travesty of justice."
> Watch the raw interview with Clark:
Clark is now suing the two now-former Idaho Springs police officers involved in the incident, their supervisor and the City of Idaho Springs. The first deposition in the case will be held on Monday.
Clark's family moved him out of his Idaho Springs apartment last September. He is now living with his daughter in Thornton but he still has a long way to go to get back to the active life he led before he was tasered. Two weeks ago, he was back in the hospital when his heart rate dropped to a dangerous level.
But like the railroad worker he used to be, he jokes that he fully intends to keep chugging along for as long as he possibly can.
"It's been torturous because I want out, I want a life," Clark said. "Quit is not in my vocabulary."
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