Posted on 05/07/2006 12:43:59 PM PDT by seowulf
REDMOND - The Redmond Police Department is facing a $1 million lawsuit after a woman says an officer used his Taser on her during a medical emergency.
Video from the police car camera shows that something was wrong with Leila Fuchs last July when police pulled her out of her car. For nearly 10 minutes when officers first pulled up, they say she remained unresponsive.
"She's just gotten into this collision at Redmond Way and 145th -- small accident," said defense attorney James Egan.
But he says it's the decisions an officer made when Fuchs wouldn't unlock her door that has them suing the department.
Egan says his client was suffering from a diabetic episode when medics tried to get her attention.
"So the medic brings a window hammer here," Egan says, pointing to the video.
Then, Egan says an officer took matters into his own hands.
"He bashed in the passenger side window, opened the door, and immediately ordered her to open her driver side door," Egan said. "Even according to (the officer), she was dazed, catatonic, and non-responsive. At that point, he pulls his Taser out, and says if she doesn't open it, he will shoot her."
Egan says the officer used his gun and hit Fuchs with 50,000 volts of electricity.
"He didn't shoot her for one second," Egan said. "He shot her for the full five seconds… and caused her to stiffen and scream, according to his police report as this happened, and here she was suffering a medical emergency."
Police reports claim officers could initially smell the odor of alcohol in the car, but after they got Fuchs out and did a breath test, they determined there was no trace of alcohol found.
"He jumped the gun... literally," Egan said. "And that's when he tried to electrocute someone he apparently thought was intoxicated."
Calls to the Redmond Police about the video and the lawsuit were not immediately returned Saturday evening. Police records, though, back up the fact that the Taser was used and that Fuchs did not have any traces of alcohol in her system.
I was a passenger in a car with my sister several years ago, she was diabetic, but her diabetes had been under control for years. I had never seen anyone in a diabetic crisis so imagine my horror when she suddenly seemed really drunk,almost to the point of passing out- and we were traveling through a construction zone with the concrete barriers on both sides in city traffic. She had the presence of mind to tell me I would have to drive- like now. I had to drive from the passenger seat until we made it through the zone and I could pull over. Probably the scariest few moments of my life.
I had a friend who was away in the Navy, when his mother's housekeeper called him and told him his mother had become a heavy drinker, and was out of it much of the time. He called and asked me to check on her, drinking was out of character for this lady. Thank goodness I had had the experience I did with my sister, because this woman did appear to be in a drunken stupor. Anyway I got her to the Dr, and she was diagnosed with diabetes. The Dr was amazed that she had not gone into a coma at some point becuase her levels were so far out of whack.
I would think LE would be trained about medical situations that can make things appear to be something else, maybe this officer was not paying attention when that was discussed.
Yeah, I agree. Sadly now adays if the CO would have thrown a cup of milk on the inmate and called him some bad names, he'd lose his job and get prosecuted.
Well, I'm telling you, no one ever told me anything about diabetics, I had to find out on the job.
I've told younger officers, I don't know if they teach it in the academy here or if they were sleeping.
Most of us just take the job for the free coffee and doughnuts.
Have you ever sided with them?
You may have taken my post the wrong way, I am and have always been a great supporter of LE. If it is not taught in the Academy, it really should be.
I'm sorry if I offended you in any way.
The Motto used to be [Protect and serve] now it is [Law enforcement]. I think I would feel safer if only the Mafia had guns.
Sorry, but in our system of jurisprudence the woman has no other recourse but to file a lawsuit, since she lacks the power to punish the officer.
No, not at all, and vice versa.
Thanks for your support.
At first glance it appears that what the officer did was way out of line. And, without seeing the whole thing, maybe he was wrong.
I just like to throw out the police side of the coin.
Though sometimes I wonder why, I generally get a beating... hahahaha.
And, I'm sure there are other, more qualified police officers out there, silently.
Maybe they are the wise ones. I've always had a big mouth.
I could never master: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."
But, then again, I just took the job for the free coffee and doughnuts, so, there it is.
No, just those who are catatonic.
"Even if the woman was wrong to drive ..."
Whoa! Stop right there! IF she was wrong to drive? Are you saying there's some doubt about whether this woman was capable of driving?
And what's with the "even if"? It's the "even if" that brought about the problem to begin with.
AFAIC, all bets are off once this woman got behind the wheel in that condition -- she has no excuse, none, to drive impaired. Drunk or hypoglycemic, she could have killed someone.
On this forum?
Even had she been dazed and incoherent from drinking rather than from a medical emergency, what basis was there for use of force? Dazed and incoherent, barely able to move, hardly seems to pose a threat to the officer or anyone else.
I hope she wins the suit, and the officer in question, if not sacked, gets sent for so much training in proper use of force protocols he'd wish he'd been sacked.
L
1 Million$ is way too little for this. I hope theres at least a thorough admnistrative inquiry, and hopefully a dismissal.
You dont just Taser people for not doing what you say!!
Oh get real, Diabetes is controllable and people with it shouldn't be excluded from driving. Besides that people walk around not knowing they have it until something happens, this woman possible never had it before the accident. Still no excuse to taser an accident victim.
Well, maybe he don't. But since I wasn't there, I'm not prepared to say.
There's two sides to every story.
Every single time it's called for.
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