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Woman, 35, had her arm amputated because 'police handcuffs were too tight'
Daily Mail ^ | 7:44 EST, 31 December 2013 | Daily Mail Reporter

Posted on 12/31/2013 6:22:25 PM PST by null and void

A Pittsburgh woman is suing authorities after she had to have her arm amputated because police officers used ‘excessive force’ while they arrested her and refused to give her access to a doctor.

The mother-of-three, Amy Needham, 35, of Ross, says the officers entered her home to execute an arrest warrant for failing to show up to a preliminary hearing.

When sheriff's office employees arrived, Needham said she was using the bathroom, but they broke down the bathroom door.

Rough arrest: Police officers shocked Amy Needham, 35, with a Taser, applied arm bars and wrist locks, and put on handcuffs 'that were too tight' before taking her to Allegheny County Jail

According to her attorney, Marvin Leibowitz, the tight handcuffs caused her to suffer compartment syndrome, a limb- and life-threatening condition that occurs after an injury.

Leibowitz says while Needham sat in jail, she made 16 requests to see a doctor for treatment but was denied.

‘They never sent her a doctor. Never took her to the doctor. She developed a septic shock and she almost died and they had to take off her arm

Asked for help: The victim's attorney, Marvin Leibowitz, says while Needham sat in jail she made 16 requests to see a doctor for treatment which were denied

Needham, who had previously worked in a restaurant, is now waiting for a prosthesis.

‘I think she’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She doesn’t have an arm. How is she going to get a job?’

Deputies had arrested her for failing to show up at a preliminary hearing on a charge that was eventually reduced to disorderly conduct.

She is now suing the deputies in question and the Allegheny County Jail and seeks $75,000 in damages.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; police; policebrutality; taser
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Aren't the police allowed to disarm a suspect?
1 posted on 12/31/2013 6:22:25 PM PST by null and void
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To: Alaska Wolf

ping


2 posted on 12/31/2013 6:22:44 PM PST by null and void (I'm betting on an Obama Trifecta: A Nobel Peace Prize, an Impeachment, AND a War Crimes Trial...)
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To: null and void

Maybe she should have showed up for that preliminary hearing...


3 posted on 12/31/2013 6:24:14 PM PST by CitizenUSA (Democrats. The only constitutional rights they believe in are sodomy and abortion.)
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To: CitizenUSA

She should have. Does her failure justify their actions?


4 posted on 12/31/2013 6:26:04 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: CitizenUSA

She should have, but there is no excuse for this if true.


5 posted on 12/31/2013 6:27:22 PM PST by volunbeer (We must embrace austerity or austerity will embrace us)
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To: CitizenUSA

How about we insist on hiring actual human beings as police officers?


6 posted on 12/31/2013 6:27:43 PM PST by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: null and void

Only 75K in damages? Seems pretty cheap, IF what she says is true. Amputation due to excessive force is not the appropriate penalty for failure to appear.


7 posted on 12/31/2013 6:27:45 PM PST by Pearls Before Swine
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To: CitizenUSA

If the posted account is factual, she needs to get a better lawyer.

The arresting officers need to be disciplined as do the jailers.

Then she can settle out of court for several million.


8 posted on 12/31/2013 6:28:16 PM PST by BwanaNdege (Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. J.F. Kennedy)
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To: null and void

Wait’ she is suing for only $75,000.....?

Something is not adding up....

If I lost my arm due to police incompetence ..... You can add at least two zero’s to that number...


9 posted on 12/31/2013 6:28:36 PM PST by Popman ("Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God" - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: null and void

I almost missed that......Bwahaha!!!!


10 posted on 12/31/2013 6:29:41 PM PST by ColdOne (I miss my poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11) Hey, Harry Reid.. 1-800-318-2596!)
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To: null and void

75k??!! I think she needs a a new lawyer


11 posted on 12/31/2013 6:29:46 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Play the 'Knockout Game' with someone owning a 9mm and you get what you deserve)
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To: null and void

Well, that is ONE way to take away someone’s arms...


12 posted on 12/31/2013 6:30:48 PM PST by GraceG
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To: null and void

$75,000 for the loss of an arm. Either her lawyer is a moron or he’s a shyster with no case angling for a nuisance settlement.


13 posted on 12/31/2013 6:31:28 PM PST by Valpal1 (If the police can t solve a problem with brute force, they ll find a way to fix it with brute force)
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To: Pearls Before Swine

Yep, Only 75K, I guess an arm goes for cheap these days. For that amount, the authorities will just cut her a check and her lawyer will get most of that (unless the lawyer is working pro bono).


14 posted on 12/31/2013 6:33:07 PM PST by doc1019
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To: Trailerpark Badass

If that happens, what will the badgelickers have to lick?


15 posted on 12/31/2013 6:33:16 PM PST by sport
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To: null and void

[ The mother-of-three, Amy Needham, 35, of Ross, says the officers entered her home to execute an arrest warrant for failing to show up to a preliminary hearing.

When sheriff’s office employees arrived, Needham said she was using the bathroom, but they broke down the bathroom door.

Rough arrest: Police officers shocked Amy Needham, 35, with a Taser, applied arm bars and wrist locks, and put on handcuffs ‘that were too tight’ before taking her to Allegheny County Jail ]

Arm bars... Wrist Locks AND HANDCUFFS......

They taking down a sasquatch or hailing in a perp????

Oh and I hope if the po-po ever come knocking at my house for me that I am not using the loo, I seem to have impeccable timing as usually whenever I do use the bathroom someone either calls my phone or knocks on my door....


16 posted on 12/31/2013 6:33:56 PM PST by GraceG
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To: null and void

Right to keep and tear arms?
Wait, wut?


17 posted on 12/31/2013 6:34:29 PM PST by Darksheare (Try my coffee, first one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: CitizenUSA

You have a dangerous sense of personal accountability.


18 posted on 12/31/2013 6:35:47 PM PST by wideawake
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To: sport

[ If that happens, what will the badgelickers have to lick? ]

They will have the bars in the prison to lick, i hear they have the same metallic taste that the police state geniuses love to taste, well besides boot leather...


19 posted on 12/31/2013 6:36:12 PM PST by GraceG
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To: Valpal1

I pick choice B.


20 posted on 12/31/2013 6:36:29 PM PST by wideawake
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