Posted on 05/29/2014 7:33:24 AM PDT by Rusty0604
On August 20, 2013, Sherman police stopped Lesa Surratt’s vehicle for failing to signal a lane change. An officer removed Surratt from the vehicle. From there, she was placed in the rear of a patrol car but without performing a search, the suit claims.
Surratt’s passenger, Monica Garza, was also placed in the patrol car.
Brian McClarin, a narcotics officer, had directed the traffic stop.
The complaint acknowledges that Surratt removed a small amount of cocaine she was concealing and began swallowing it.
One of the officers realized what was going on “and climbed in the back seat, across the body of Garza, and began striking Surratt with open fist and then his flashlight to get her to spit up the cocaine,” the suit alleges.
When the effort failed, the officer “placed the flashlight diagonally against the right side of Surratt’s neck and pushed down, chocking Surratt with the flashlight until she lost consciousness.” While on the ground, McClarin gave the order to “tase the bitch,” the suit alleges.
McClarin and two other officers began striking Surratt with their open hands and flashlights, according to the suit, which does not specify the monetary damages it seeks but does request a jury trial
Surratt lay convulsing on the ground for 20 minutes before the officers called for an EMT, the suit claims. After being taken to Texas Presbyterian Hospital, Surratt was declared brain dead. She was removed from life support on Sept. 2, and died shortly after.
An autopsy determined that Surratt died as a result of asphyxiation.
“The thing that’s really strange about this is the stonewalling that I’ve received by the city about any information,” Surratt’s attorney, Don Bailey, told The Daily Caller.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
ping
Good grief! Was this written by a 2 year old? She was in the back of a patrol car and then ON THE GROUND... How did she get on the ground?
A lawsuit isn’t even referred to until the 7th sentence or paragraph....
Who’s brain dead here? Sign the writer up for a job in the obozo administration quick!
Was the girl in handcuffs? Not that it makes THAT much difference. It seems SO over the top that I must assume some details are missing.
Otherwise, all LEO involved need to be tried and prosecuted for felony homicide.
Ooops - failed to see “excerpt” - the article itself does mention the lawsuit.....
The events related in this story took place in Sherman, Texas, which is a town about fifty miles NNW from Dallas. It’s pretty close to the Oklahoma border.
Prosecute the cops. Period.
WOD has to go...
One of these days, one of these police “incedents” is going to blow up into another Rodney King Riot.
“Brian McClarin, a narcotics officer, had directed the traffic stop.”
So the traffic stop was just a means to stop the car. She was stopped for failure to signal on a lane change.
This is the reason i want to gut the traffic laws. They are abused over and over again to generate searches. Traffic laws are used to make sure that LEO can bypass probable cause. They use the traffic laws to make the initial stop, then fabricate a chain of incidents (k-9, furtive look, smell, obscure behavior, butt clenching, whatever) to take the incident further. You need to de-claw the city where you live. De-fund local law enforcement and clamp down on the border. That will never happen. The goal is to get everyone periodically checked through the national crime databases. That takes stops.
So the silly woman had coke on her. Now she is dead. What is the value delivered to society?
So drugs pour over the intentionally unsecured borders and citizens are killed, harassed, dragged into court for possession of a substance that should not even make it into the country.
I didn’t understand why they put the women in the back of their car for a simple traffic stop. I thought they usually left you sitting in your car while they did a check.
The stop was by a narcotics officer, not a traffic control officer. The intent from the beginning was a drug search.
You can follow anybody for a quarter of a mile or less and figure out a “legit” reason to make a stop. That’s intentional. The public are dopes who will sacrifice their souls for the illusion of safety, risk management and risk transference.
for crying out loud, gets some cojones... i would not want this guy representing me... it is not strange... it is criminal... stop being so polite...
Some people become cops so that they can beat up and kill people without going to jail.
My home town. These things have happened up there from time to time. More has happened in the past that didn’t get reported. But for the most part, it’s a peaceful town with mostly good people ... with and without badges.
“To protect and serve” has become “To Judge & Punish”
They all think they are Judge Dredd
exactly, when cops do this kind of stuff they should be prosecuted and punished harshly
We should remember that some of these are allegations and it's only one side of the story.
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