Posted on 02/12/2008 11:52:51 AM PST by Lexington Green
TAMPA - Sheriff's officials are investigating why a deputy in a jail booking video appears to dump a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair.
Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said the agency is looking into what happened to Brian D. Sterner, 32, during his Jan. 29 booking at the Orient Road Jail, after a television reporter confronted Callaway with the jail's own video.
Footage aired on WTSP-Ch. 10 Monday night showed a uniformed officer unseating Sterner from his chair, then searching him as he lay on the floor where he had fallen.
"She said, 'Stand up.' I said, 'I can't I'm a quadriplegic,'" he told the St. Petersburg Times late Monday. "Next thing I know, I don't see anyone and I feel the wheelchair being pushed up."
Sterner suffered a spinal cord injury at age 18, following a wrestling accident in June 1994. In the past 13-plus years, he said, he's never had to prove to someone that he is disabled. And he isn't quite sure what led the deputy to question him as she did.
"I made it clear in plain language that I was a quadriplegic," he said. Sterner said that even his hands bear the calluses of a man who navigates life if a chair. "I push every day," he said.
Sterner served four years as director of the Florida Spinal Cord Injury Resource Center until 2006. In recent years, he sold wheelchair vans until being laid off in January. Sterner also played wheelchair rugby for 10 years on teams in Spokane, Philadelphia and, locally, the Tampa Generals. According to his MySpace page, he holds a master's in philosophy from Gonzaga University.
State records show Sterner has no prior Florida arrests. The Jan. 29 arrest, a charge of fleeing and attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, stemmed from an Oct. 25 incident, according to court records.
Callaway said he had no details Monday on the basis for the arrest.
Sterner said it started as a traffic stop in Ybor City, and he doesn't know how it escalated into the fleeing and eluding charge. Court records show that Sterner was cited Oct. 25 for blocking an intersection.
Callaway said he could not provide the booking video to the Times on Monday. He offered no explanation for the actions of the officer. "That will all come to light in the coming days," he said.
Meanwhile, Sterner said he's asked Largo attorney John Trevena to look into the matter.
"I'm not really into lawyers," Sterner said. "But I do believe in responsibility and I'm very glad there were cameras pointed in that area because what she did to me is wrong. There's no debating it - just plain wrong."
Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or 813 226-3383.
Surprised she didn’t taze him.
Makes you kind of wish that IAB detectives would really do their jobs.
Does it seem to you that the cops are getting worse?
Most people think a Quadriplegic has no function of their arms and legs. He says to the cop “I’m a quadriplegic” but she sees him moving his hands so doesn’t buy it. He’d have probably been better off saying he was a paraplegic.
None of this excuses this POS cop though. Fired should just be the beginning.
DON’T TAZE ME BRO. DON’T TAZE ME.
Sounds like an episode of Reno 911.
So, really when you think about it the deputy's behavior was totally appropriate. Not.
A QUADriplegicplays wheelchair rugby?
Web definitions for quadriplegic-
“a person who is paralyzed in both arms and both legs “
Out of control cop. I’d like to know what he really did to get a ticket, probably nothing.
Girl cops don't like being told no.
The guy’s not a quad, he’s a para. Which gives just enough wiggle room for the bootlickers to excuse the cop’s behavior. Just wait and see.
Another ridiculous encounter with a thoughtless cop.
I just saw this video on Fox News. There is NO justification for an act like this. And two others were standing nearby. Fair to assume that the taxpayers of that Florida town will be paying the costs of a lawsuit.
He’s a quad that can use his arms to get around?
I don’t know what the calluses might mean, but in the video, as the chair is being lifted, it looks like he is grasping the chair arms with his hands, and trying to brace himself.
Not that it matters a lot here, the treatment he received was inhumane and the officers involved should be unceremoniously tossed from their jobs.
A QUADriplegicplays wheelchair rugby?
Yeah. These guys are only partially paralyzesd in their arms/hands. Quad Rugby is like demolition derby. Its original name was Murderball.
Naah, they avoid these types of incidents then really pounce on the episodes where Cops are done wrong/put into danger.
I will say that has to be one of the least professional things I’ve seen in a long time though. He literally was just dumped on the floor breaking some ribs.
Maybe it was a hate crime.
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