Posted on 06/07/2012 1:49:37 PM PDT by kiryandil
BALTIMORE (CN) - When an architect crashed his car while suffering a diabetic reaction on the way home from Bible study class, state and county police pepper sprayed him in the face and clubbed and Tasered him to death, his wife claims in court.
Linda Johnson sued the Maryland State Police, Baltimore County Police, their top commanders and six officers who allegedly beat and Tasered to death Carl D. Johnson on May 27, 2010. Johnson suffered a diabetic attack sometime after 8:15 p.m. that night, after calling a friend to tell him he was leaving his Bible class, according to the complaint in Baltimore County Court. He suffered a diabetic attack, crashed on the I-795, and his car came to rest against the guardrail in the median near the merger with I-695.
According to the complaint, when State Trooper Davon Parker arrived and tapped on the window, and Johnson managed to lower the window, Parker pepper sprayed him in the face. Johnson then got out of his car and Parker clubbed him at least once in the knee. Defendant Officer Loss (fnu) then arrived and whacked Johnson at least twice with his club, the complaint states.
Baltimore County Police Officer Nicholas Wolferman then arrived, whacked Johnson "at least three times" with his own baton, then he and Officer Loss "grabbed Mr. Johnson and threw him over the guardrail," Johnson's widow says. She claims the very first officer on the scene knew or should have known that her husband was suffering from a medical problem.
Nonetheless, after throwing him over the guardrail, the cops applied pressure points to his ears and armpits, she says. Three more cops arrived, including Baltimore County Officer Andrew O'Neill, who Tasered Johnson twice. Officer Loss then punched him in the face and the six officers managed to handcuff him, the widow says. Eight more cops arrived, and someone took his wallet, which included a medical alert card about his diabetes. Nonetheless, the cops forcibly held him down, though he was not resisting, and was handcuffed, his wife says.
"Upon information and belief, there were approximately 52 individuals that responded to the scene," according to the complaint.
The widow claims Johnson was Tasered at least three times, while he was lying on his back, helpless, surrounded by police. He became "motionless and speechless" and was pronounced dead within an hour of cardiac arrest.He was the 10th person to die since 2004 after being subjected to police electroshock in Maryland, the Baltimore Sun reported in a story about Johnson's death.
Linda Johnson seeks more than $10 million in punitive damages for wrongful death, loss of consortium, false imprisonment, false arrest, battery, gross negligence and other charges. She is represented by Mark Millstein and David Silbiger, both of Baltimore.
So, was implementation of 911 a good idea or not?
Seems like it got us dependent on someone else to take care of a lot of situations that otherwise wouldn’t be called in, and it got a lot of knuckleheads calling the police for pranks or accidental calls, etc. - any number of things that probably don’t need police response. Or are these calls for the most part blocked by the 911 operator?
I would suggest that until we fix “cops” then I don’t want any part of them. The fact that the public school sheeple who elected Barrak the commie keep calling you doesn’t surprise me. These idiots have been conditioned by gubment schools to demand a highly ordered, controlled environment. The bell tells them when to sit, when to move, and when to piss. I don’t give two hills of shiite about the idiotcracy and its endless dramas.
So the sheeple call you constantly because cousin Sheneeka laid on the crack pipe and broke a Window. Then they call their surrogate parents who haul everyone to jail for a day or two. Everyone has been to jail or is going to jail.
Leave me out of it. No, I don’t give two hills of shiite about the village and it’s endless dramas.
I would ask that you remember that there are almost 900,000 “cops” of all sorts, and not all desire to beat people senseless nor are they all separated from the people.
For my part, I do not call citizens, “civilians”, I routinely show, for lack of better word “mercy” on traffic stops, do not support the lost War on Drugs/Citizens/Constitution, and do not use more force than is reasonable and appropriate. Of course, this is the internet, but we are out there.
The media is not in the habit of celebrating when officers resolved a situation without physical force being used. They would prefer to run the stories that have a negative emotional response. They take a person’s natural distrust of government and exploit by appealing to your sense of outrage and betrayal. You have seen how they manipulated MILLIONS with the George Zimmerman story. The MSM is not in the business of truth, only ratings and viewership, which is why they are fomenting a damn race war in this country but that’s another issue.
For example, a story about a cop pulling a person from a burning building, that you will read once, and say, “Hey, that’s nice.” Leave you with a warm and glowy for about ten seconds until you see your favorite sports team put the suck on last night.
But a story about an officer using what appears to you and others as excessive force, that will be headlines for days, and you will read it over and over again, and even make comments about it. This will be further exacerbated by the government agencys involved lack of transperancy about the incident.
It is an frustrating conundrum. People want to know why, and agencies remain silent, OR they try to explain and citizens still don’t understand why something had to be done. It’s frustrating for police as well because they simply cannot put an inquiring citizen in their car and take them to a fight or a domestic in progress and say, “Ok, resolve that up with the talents, skills and experience you currently have. BTW, don’t violate anyone’s civil rights, or get yourself hurt and be prepared to be critiqued when you are done.”
Well said
I'll have to agree with you there.
If I used those arguments at work, I would be told ‘well, you took the job. You knew what you were getting into.’
On a side note, there should be more attention is paid to these cases were there is such high levels of violence, uncontrolled use of force, and killing. Citizens should be in the business of this oversight.
They didn't need a dog this time. They had a human being to kill.
“Does a guy in a diabetic reaction fight with a bunch of cops?”
No, but he doesn’t respond to commands which they use as a free pass to beat him to death.
NO ONE truly knows what they are getting into when they get into police work. NO ONE. I didn’t, and none of my colleagues did. This is why most cops with ten or more years on don’t recommend people get into police work.
If I could stand outside a police academy and tell the new kids to run away, I would.
You have to understand that when cops screw up people die. I know you know that. You seem like a great guy.
All this is solved by removing the criminal and civil protections that cops enjoy. Send a few into bankruptcy and the rest will be more likely to think through before beating down.
Everyone in this country has contact with police. That is the problem. 900,000 cops in a country of 300,000,000.
The only time reason we have so many is because the sheeple demand more laws, so they need more cops, etc.
Every time one of those idiot motorcycle cops f-up the morning rush hour with a traffic stop on the shoulder of a congested highway I am reminded how truly stupid cops and cops bosses can be. Snarl up traffic, cause accidents, then bingo the sheeple demand more cops to control traffic. Give me a break.
Conservative first, and law enforcement officer second.
I know that LEO is a dirty job at times, and that someone's got to do it. I only wish that our political leaders and the people who vote them in would recognize that we need police, not a police state.
Gee you sound overworked.
I'm guessing in that case your department doesn't have any cruisers hiding around ticketing drivers for going 7 MPH over the speed limit.
We need fewer cops, fewer laws and more armed citizens. That’s not ideal but the cops in this country long ago crossed the Mendoza line and are now just another street gang. They are out of control.
The solution: Criminal charges for criminal behavior. This man was murdered & those involved should be charged with murder.
Tasers should be considered deadly weapons, subject to deadly force rules. EMTs should immediately & routinely attend such incidences, & not wait to be called.
“All this is solved by removing the criminal and civil protections that cops enjoy. Send a few into bankruptcy and the rest will be more likely to think through before beating down.”
DB, this can be a double edged sword. I routinely see kids coming out of the academy that are so ginned up about being sued they are damn near passive. Neither law abiding citizen or police agency can afford this. If you are interested in what happens, look up the Kyle Dinkheller video. He was killed by a VN vet who he had every right to defensively engage but did not and the prevailing theory is that he did not because he was just admonished about a use of force the night previous.
They do tell you in the academy that being sued is a mathematical certainty in this business. Me, I have been sued once in my professional capacity for use of force. After review by several outside parties, the complaint was unfounded and the court agreed. No harm to me or my agency because it was found that I had been in policy and the plaintiff’s testimony was patently unreliable. I would not have been able to finance my own defense nor should I.
It is a truism in police work that you almost certainly will have two things. A lawsuit and a second job.
I will agree we have too many officers but I believe that is because of the mantra on the War on Drugs/Citizens/Constitution.
I also believe that because we have so many cops, the standards have dropped. With so many officers, some agencies have to rely more on ticket revenue which is not what traffic enforcement is really about.
Self police and get rid of your bad apples. Don’t tolerate low standards. Then you will have respect.
If he’d had his dog with him there would have been 152 cops on site instead of 52, and there would have been a fusillade of gunfire.
Your post has my head spinning!
What in the world are you trying to say?
I suspect drunken keyboarding is at work here.
52 responded? There should be lots of videos
“He was killed by a VN vet”
Sorry, you just rubbed my hair in the wrong direction. All you needed to say was that the guy was deranged, or drunk, or something.
That “VN VET” thing was gratuitous and entirely unnecessary.
Maybe it was true, but it was entirely unnecessary.
We have enough problems without people perpetuating old myths.
Please think through what you post.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.