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 ...
There needs to be five zeros after that 75.
“She developed a septic shock”
What caused that?
I agree.
When an over charged felony is reduced to a misdemeanor, it doesn’t seem necessary to break down a door. The woman was begging for help, and received none. The cuffs were so tight, she has now lost an arm. Cuffs double lock to prevent further compression. These officers were plainly being cruel. The Judge can ask her where she was when she was due in court. That is the business of the bondsman, attorney, Judge, and defendant.
reading the british papers to find out the truth. the us media continues to sink to worse than insignificance.
I think they are born as humans but something happens in the police “academies” to turn them into the kind of NAZIs so many have become.
Cut off circulation long enough and tissue dies. Dead tissue rots.
Are you for real?
Suing for $75k after losing an arm?
The local PD and municipality better write that check quick and hope she cashes it soon. She should be suing for millions.
She needs to look at the bright side. No dogs were killed, and the cops all got to go home safe at the end of their shift.
“She developed a septic shock”
What caused that?
People in safety harnesses like the ones used for electrical line work have died when falling off things and being caught by their harness and not being taken down fast enough because the blood pools up in their legs ans circulation to their lags stops, then as the leg tissue dies the cells slowly release toxins and any bacteria in the legs in even something as simple as an ingrown toenail can start to multiply and then when blood flow is restored all those toxins and bacteria are release causing both an immediate shock and possibility of sever sepsis...
I found a local article that states she is suing for an unspecified amount more than $75,000. Apparently under 75K suits go to an arbitration unit.
Also that she was in jail for a week before being taking to the hospital in septic shock and had to have her arm amputated above the elbow.
So no medical care for a week in custody means the state loses and will pay a large sum of money. They screwed up.
***Yep, Only 75K, I guess an arm goes for cheap these days.***
Not like the good old days when they charged you an arm AND a leg!
Looking further it appears that her arm was amputated because of a staff infection. My educated suspicion is that the staff infection was MRSA. As long as it is limited to the skin, MRSA is usually not life threatening but it can become so if it gets deeper into the flesh somehow.
Drug addicts sometimes are horribly disfigured from injecting through skin which has extensive MRSA colonies. Her amputation could actually be completely unrelated to her handcuffing.
I would file a request that the officers have the same arm removed so they get a small taste of thyne own medicine.
"Needham's lawsuit seeks more than $75,000, the threshold amount to sue in federal court, for claims including excessive force, cruel and unusual punishment and negligence."
More than $75K, doesn't say how much more than that though...
If this is true, it was intentional. The simple test for handcuffs is the officer’s pinky between the cuffs and wrist. All LEOs know.
Sounds dreadful— thanks for the info.
LOL
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