Lincoln police used a Taser early Thursday against a 25-year-old man allegedly armed with a hammer and screwdriver.

Shortly after 3 a.m., they went to Harlan Lame’s apartment at 401 S. 26th St. to investigate a stabbing.

Lame refused to drop the tools, “basically threatening officers” with them, said Sgt. Don Scheinost.

That led officers to use a Taser for the first time this year, Chief Tom Casady said.

Scheinost said police went to the apartment on South 26th Street at 3:04 a.m. and found a 23-year-old man had been stabbed twice in the middle of the back.

Scheinost said a woman had confronted the stabbing victim about something, allegedly stabbed him and left the apartment before police got there. He was taken to BryanLGH Medical Center West, where he had surgery and was listed in fair condition Thursday.

Police arrested 43-year-old Marla Mizner minutes later on suspicion of first-degree assault near her home at 1109 N. 28th St. She was in Lancaster County Jail Thursday.

According to Capt. Jim Thoms, police found a kitchen knife they believe to be the weapon at the scene.

As for Lame, Scheinost said, he was taken to the hospital as a precaution after being shot with the Taser.

Then police took him to jail on suspicion of refusal to comply with police and third-degree assault for an alleged fight around 2 a.m. with his girlfriend.

A Taser shoots out two small darts connected to wires to temporarily immobilize a person with an electronic pulse, Casady said. He said the use of Tasers by local police has gone down every year since 2004, when officers used them 12 times.

The decline is due to a concerted effort to be more judicious in using Tasers, an alternative to higher levels of force such as as firearms, Casady said.

“But like any kind of use of force by the police, it’s not without any risk,” he said. “We’ve been cautious and conservative on our deployment of Taser in order to avoid creating a situation where our actions are creating more risk than they’re resolving.

“It worked effectively in subduing this man,” Casady said of the Thursday morning incident. “And he was taken into custody without any injury to himself or anyone else.”

Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.