LAS CRUCES - Two police officers are under investigation after one allegedly used a Taser on an IHOP patron in El Paso last week.

Officer Manuel Soto was placed on administrative duties Friday pending the completion on an internal investigation into the incident, Las Cruces Police Department spokesman Dan Trujillo said Tuesday.

Soto was off duty when he and an on-duty Sunland Park officer confronted a group that appeared to have been drinking at around 2 a.m. Thursday, said El Paso Police Department spokesman Mike Baranyay.

"One of the guys in that group was getting a little mouthy and there was some type of - I don't want to call it an altercation, but maybe joking, bantering back and forth occurred," Baranyay said.

At one point, the Sunland Park officer handed Soto his Taser and Soto used it, in stun-gun mode, on one of the men in the other group, Baranyay said. Witness accounts differ on whether the man who was Tased actually encouraged Soto to use the weapon on him, but on Friday, the victim went to El Paso police and signed a non-prosecution statement, Baranyay said. No charges will be filed.

The victim is not believed to be a law enforcement officer, Baranyay said.

Soto worked for the Sunland Park police several years ago before joining LCPD in February, 2009, according to LCPD.

Sunland Park Police Chief Steve Ramirez declined to identify the officer involved or say how long he had been with the department.

"I can not comment on any personnel

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matters, but we are cooperating fully with the investigation of El Paso's police department and conducting our own internal investigation," Ramirez said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation."

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.