Posted on 10/20/2004 1:09:55 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
The Rock Hill Police Department is investigating why an officer used an electric stun gun on a 75-year-old woman who refused to leave a nursing home where she had gone to visit an ailing friend. The woman, Margaret Kimbrell, said she suffered bruises on her leg and face after she was knocked to the floor by the force of the weapon, called a Taser. Police Chief John Gregory said Tuesday the department is reviewing whether Officer Hattie Macon's use of the Taser was appropriate -- a step that is taken in unusual or high-profile cases. "On face value, it looks like it was," he said. "We have a person who was asked to leave, who refused and who attempted to assault the officer." Gregory did not say when the review would be completed. Kimbrell said Tuesday she's considering legal action against the department. Kimbrell went to EdenGardens of Rock Hill, a retirement home on Constitution Boulevard, Friday evening to visit a friend who was scheduled to have colon surgery this week, she said. Soon after she arrived, a staff member called police to have her removed for trespassing. A relative of the friend told an EdenGardens administrator she did not want Kimbrell there, said Larry Boesen, the home's executive director. Police and Kimbrell offer two different versions of what happened after police arrived.
According to the police report, Kimbrell was sitting in a chair in a waiting area when Macon, 35, ordered her to leave several times. Kimbrell refused, jerking her arms away when Macon tried to lead her toward the door. Police say Kimbrell eventually got up but walked toward the cafeteria after spotting someone she knew. At that point, the officer blocked Kimbrell and told her she was under arrest. Kimbrell then swung her arm at the officer, according to the police report. That's when Macon used the Taser and placed Kimbrell under arrest. Kimbrell on Tuesday disagreed with that version of events. She said she did not swing her arm or threaten Macon. "As weak as I am, how could I do that?" said Kimbrell, who has arthritis and suffered six broken ribs in a recent fall in her back yard. "Maybe I was trespassing, but I didn't know it. I thought they would understand." She said she got upset because no one would tell her where her friend was -- or even if he was alive. "I thought he had died," she said. "I was trying to keep from crying." Kimbrell said Macon pressed the Taser to her back and used it during the exchange, causing Kimbrell to hit the floor.
"It was the worst pain," said Kimbrell. "It felt like something going through my body. I thought I was dying. I said, 'Lord, let it be over.'" Kimbrell said she asked the officer and others at the scene to dial 911 because she was hurt. According to the police report, no one was injured in the incident. Macon could not be reached for comment. Kimbrell, of 1211 Meadow Lakes Road, was taken to the police department and later issued a citation for resisting police and trespassing. She spent three hours in a police holding area until her daughter, Donna, picked her up around 10 p.m., she said. Kimbrell said she later learned her ailing friend was out taking a walk during the incident. Review has been launched According to the department's policy manual, cases when officers can use Tasers include when a suspect is threatening to punch or kick, or when officers "reasonably believe a suspect poses a credible threat." "I have to believe at that moment, that's what the officer had to believe," Gregory said. "We have to look at what was reasonable under the circumstances. The determination about somebody being right or wrong has not been made." Macon, who joined the department almost 18 months ago, remains on duty, said Gregory. The department has received no previous complaints about her performance.
"I can't overemphasize how concerned I am," said Gregory. "This case is getting a lot of attention, and I understand that ... If we find excessive force was used, we will take the appropriate disciplinary action." The department is aware that Kimbrell and her family are planning to file a formal complaint, Gregory said. Tasers prove effective Nearly all of Rock Hill's 110 police officers have carried Tasers since last year, Gregory said. They've been used 57 times this year with no injuries reported, he said. Before they are issued the device, officers must complete a four-hour training course that includes having a Taser used on them. They also must take a refresher course once a year. Macon took the refresher course last month, said Capt. Charles Cabannis. The devices have proven safer and more effective than batons and pepper spray, Gregory said. "We have noticed a substatial reduction in injuries to suspects and officers since we've used them," he said. "It's kept us from having to fight people. We haven't had to beat anybody with clubs." Gregory said an official from the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy had called Tuesday morning to ask if the department could lead a Taser training exercise for other state agencies -- a sign that the department's policies are well-respected.
"They're using us as an example," Gregory said. "We have a strict policy."
Because, for the average jackbooted thug, it's easier to use violence than brains.
And FWIW, Rock Hill is the only town who's city government is so askew in the cranium that they hired a deaf mute woman to staff the front receptionist desk in the city hall/city government complex. I swear to God! I experienced it.
Outlaw this bullshit.
if they did this to my granny, I'd be choke slamming some
Hattie.
This 'officer' is a threat not only to the community, but to herself. If an emergency or threatening situation arises, where people depend on a cool head, and a physical presence...this woman will be killed , or will have someone else killed. This is why politically correct quotas are a disaster in police work. Only physically and mentally qualified people need be hired.
Anything else is looking for trouble...and a lawsuit.
How does she give directions or page anyone?
Man! that IS an asinine bunch!
I'd better recant what I wrote to MM while I can, if I can....:-{
All I can think is how easily this could have killed her (like if she had a pacemaker or sumthin').
If a "police officer" tazed my 75-year-old aunt I'd take matters into my own hands.
Wasn't Rock Hill, SC where the infamous police drug raid at the school caused a national uproar?
In retrospect all things considered, if you looked at it from an efficiency of worker angle, she was probably more productive and served as a fine disarming mechanism to anyone from the public showing up at city hall to give them an earful. It just depends on how you score productivity.
It's also the city which posts a sign on the 77 interstate which reads "Narcotics Checkpoint One Mile Ahead" just before the exit. The cops look for anyone who seems to suddenly exit and tears their car to shreds looking for drugs due to probable cause. Not of course to defend any moron who would fall for that obvious scheme and exit out of fear that they'd be found out hauling $20 worth of pot. They deserve the hassle just for being stupid.
I don't care what age you are, 60, 75, or 90, if you don't follow a cop's orders, you get what you get. I have no problem with an old lady getting zapped if she didn't follow an officer's directions.
Ummm, the friend was in for colon surgery -- not Alzheimer's. What the heck does the relative have to do with deciding who can visit him? Methinks Ms. Kimbrell is going to be a very wealthy old lady by the time this is all sorted out. She may even own the nursing home.
" I experienced it."
Me too - I lived their the first 18 years of my life!!
What's going on in the 'Hill these days? Last week, that Reserve unit in Iraq FROM ROCK HILL refuses to follow orders and this week, the cops are stunning Helen Thomas lookalikes! WTHell?!
LOL!
"The cops look for anyone who seems to suddenly exit and tears their car to shreds looking for drugs due to probable cause."
Yeah, I've seen that. Boy, it'd suck to live off that exit and get your car shredded on a daily basis!
The lowest of the low, are bad cops and worse, bad district attorney's and bad state's attorney's general. They should be busted completely and totally for abusing their powers, all and any.
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