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 ...
That's bad. heh.
She wasn't really a 'suspect' though, she simply failed to appear at a preliminary hearing. Illegals skip these hearings all the time through catch-and-release. This was very excessive by any standard.
The police are out of control. How much of this crap never makes the papers?
Traffic cops and regular cops should be separate things, now I am thinking that warrant enforcement and stuff like this need to have their own division too.
This is crazy
I can only assume that you are advocating for extra-judicial punishment.
Certainly not Christian, or conservative.
/johnny
It might be unrelated to the cuffing, but it is most certainly related to a week of medical neglect in custody.
Also, she has no lengthy criminal history, just the recent simple assault and disorderly conduct which doesn’t sound much like an IV junkie.
Something is out of sorts here. If the cuffs were too tight, for how long? 1, 2, 3 or more hours.
/johnny
as many psych studies have shown, real human beings are capable of doing quite awful stuff to others under the guise of following order and rules.
Where did they cuff her? At the shoulders? Wow.
What was extra-judicial?
Wow.... just wow... Folks, this is an example of what is terribly wrong in this country.
The police are out of control. How much of this crap never makes the papers?
10 years a go i would have disagreed... but there have been too many instances of increasing police brutality and the spectre of Homeland Security hanging over us all in the last 5 years especially....
My advice to freepers, run a clean ship and shoot everything with a camera that is....
/johnny
I don’t have a problem with her being held accountable for not showing up for her prelim, but I do have a problem with a militerized police force being used to arrest her. The police know that low level offenders will always get caught for something later on, which is why they usually wait for them to re-offend rather than use police resources to,scoop them up.
That can do it.The tissue dies from restricted blood flow and becomes infected and dies therefore causing septic shock which spreads like wildfire.
/johnny
Only if you think serious injury or maiming was not an intentional result.
Oh, I think they intended to hurt her alright, just not permanently maim her and get caught.
That’s where they screwed up.
It’s possible that her being so uncomfortable that her movements may have scraped the handcuffs and a metal splinter pierced her skin.
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