I can receive the article's assertion about tazer wires without rejecting it (nor accepting it). It doesn't do anything except muddy up the logic chain. Cops got all kinda gear and soft body armor. Ain't no barbs gonna pierce soft-body armor, belt gear, badge, etc. All it takes is for one barb to not meet skin, and there is no circuit.
And, this assumes the cop didn't taser himself in the struggle. For example, say the citizen saw the taser being drawn, and grabbed it or the officer's arm to deflect the taser, and the cop, finger-on-trigger, reflexively fires the taser while its pointed at him in the back-and-forth motions of a struggle. Maybe he gets a barb in his leg or whatever, the other barb hitting equipment or missing altogether.
For all we know, when the citizen initially saw the taser being drawn, he thought he was about to be shot with a gun. I have personally seen a taser carried by a cop in an across-the-chest holster that took me a couple seconds to recognize it was a taser, not a pistol. And, that is only because I've seen pictures of tasers, and know a little bit what they look like.