MOBILE, Ala. -- Mobile police were justified last month in their use of a Taser and pepper spray to get a deaf, mentally disabled man out of a store restroom, but a lieutenant erred when he then tried to send the man to jail, an internal investigation has determined.

The probe found that the use of a Taser to remove Antonio Love was within department standards because other attempts to get him out failed, and officers at the time had no way of knowing about Love's mental and physical disabilities, said a source familiar with the investigation, who spoke to the Press-Register on the condition of anonymity.

Officers had tried for nearly an hour to remove Love, who braced the door shut, the source said.

A news conference is scheduled for this morning to officially release the investigation's findings.

The confrontation happened July 24, after the officers were called to the Dollar General store on Azalea Road. The manager called and told dispatchers that a man had been in the restroom for an hour and wasn't responding to employee knocks.

Love later said in an interview that he went to the restroom because he had been sick to his stomach, and he didn't think he had been in there for more than a half hour.

The source said three officers were involved in prying the door open, and a fourth used the Taser. The Police Department has not named those officers.

At no time did Love strike out or attempt to fight the officers, the source said.

Love, the source said, "was found to be confused and scared and had no criminal intent."

Love's behavior in the restroom was explained by his disabilities, and because the 37-year-old hadn't done anyone any harm, Lt. Kevin Rodgers should have ordered subordinates to take Love home or contact his family, the investigation found, according to the source.

After the officers took Love to jail, they attempted to charge him with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer.

The magistrate judge on duty refused to accept those charges.

Love's family has said the police then took him home and left him in the parking lot without telling them where he had been or what happened.

Rodgers was placed on administrative duty shortly after the incident, where he remained Tuesday, pending a disciplinary hearing, according to the source.

Rodgers is a 14-year veteran, according to the Mobile County Personnel Board. Attempts to locate him Tuesday for comment were unsuccessful.