Posted on 06/25/2010 5:52:09 PM PDT by autumnraine
Police Tasered an 86-year-old disabled grandma in her bed and stepped on her oxygen hose until she couldn't breathe, after her grandson called 911 seeking medical assistance, the woman and her grandson claim in Oklahoma City Federal Court. Though the grandson said, "Don't Taze my granny!" an El Reno police officer told another cop to "Taser her!" and wrote in his police report that he did so because the old woman "took a more aggressive posture in her bed," according to the complaint. Lonnie Tinsley claims that he called 911 after he went to check on his grandmother, whom he found in her bed, "connected to a portable oxygen concentrator with a long hose." She is "in marginal health, [and] takes several prescribed medications daily," and "was unable to tell him exactly when she had taken her meds," so, Tinsley says, he called 911 "to ask for an emergency medical technician to come to her apartment to evaluate her." In response, "as many as ten El Reno police" officers "pushed their way through the door," according to the complaint. The grandma, Lona Varner, "told them to get out of her apartment." The remarkable complaint continues: "Instead, the apparent leader of the police [defendant Thomas Duran] instructed another policeman to 'Taser her!' He stated in his report that the 86 year-old plaintiff 'took a more aggressive posture in her bed,' and that he was fearful for his safety and the safety of others. "Lonnie Tinsley told them, 'Don't taze my Granny!' to which they responded that they would Taser him; instead, they pulled him out of her apartment, took him down to the floor, handcuffed him and placed him in the back of a police car. "The police then proceeded to approach Ms. Varner in her bed and stepped on her oxygen hose until she began to suffer oxygen deprivation. "The police then fired a Taser at her and only one wire struck her, in the left arm; the police then fired a second Taser, striking her to the right and left of the midline of her upper chest and applied high voltage, causing burns to her chest, extreme pain and to pass out. "The police then grabbed Ms. Varner by her forearms and jerked hands together, causing her soft flesh to tear and bleed on her bed; they then handcuffed her. "The police freed Lonnie Tinsley from his incarceration in the back of the police car and permitted him to accompany the ambulance with his grandmother." Tinsley says the cops capped it all off by having his grandmother "placed in the psychiatric ward at the direction of the El Reno police; she was held there for six days and released." "As a result of the wrongful arrest and detention, the plaintiff Lona M. Varner suffered the unlawful restraint of her freedom, bodily injury, assault, battery, the trashing of her apartment, humiliation, loss of personal dignity, infliction of emotional distress and medical bills." They seek punitive damages for constitutional violations, from the City of El Reno, Duran, Officers Frank Tinga and Joseph Sandberg, and 10 Officers Does. They are represented by Brian Dell of Oklahoma City.
Lonnie Tinsley claims that he called 911 after he went to check on his grandmother, whom he found in her bed, "connected to a portable oxygen concentrator with a long hose." She is "in marginal health, [and] takes several prescribed medications daily," and "was unable to tell him exactly when she had taken her meds," so, Tinsley says, he called 911 "to ask for an emergency medical technician to come to her apartment to evaluate her."
In response, "as many as ten El Reno police" officers "pushed their way through the door," according to the complaint.
The grandma, Lona Varner, "told them to get out of her apartment."
The remarkable complaint continues: "Instead, the apparent leader of the police [defendant Thomas Duran] instructed another policeman to 'Taser her!' He stated in his report that the 86 year-old plaintiff 'took a more aggressive posture in her bed,' and that he was fearful for his safety and the safety of others.
"Lonnie Tinsley told them, 'Don't taze my Granny!' to which they responded that they would Taser him; instead, they pulled him out of her apartment, took him down to the floor, handcuffed him and placed him in the back of a police car.
"The police then proceeded to approach Ms. Varner in her bed and stepped on her oxygen hose until she began to suffer oxygen deprivation.
"The police then fired a Taser at her and only one wire struck her, in the left arm; the police then fired a second Taser, striking her to the right and left of the midline of her upper chest and applied high voltage, causing burns to her chest, extreme pain and to pass out.
"The police then grabbed Ms. Varner by her forearms and jerked hands together, causing her soft flesh to tear and bleed on her bed; they then handcuffed her.
"The police freed Lonnie Tinsley from his incarceration in the back of the police car and permitted him to accompany the ambulance with his grandmother."
Tinsley says the cops capped it all off by having his grandmother "placed in the psychiatric ward at the direction of the El Reno police; she was held there for six days and released."
"As a result of the wrongful arrest and detention, the plaintiff Lona M. Varner suffered the unlawful restraint of her freedom, bodily injury, assault, battery, the trashing of her apartment, humiliation, loss of personal dignity, infliction of emotional distress and medical bills."
They seek punitive damages for constitutional violations, from the City of El Reno, Duran, Officers Frank Tinga and Joseph Sandberg, and 10 Officers Does.
They are represented by Brian Dell of Oklahoma City.
I must confess that once I saw the number of LEOs involved in the call, I wasn’t surprised at the behavior. Collectively, the will of a lion. You get more than two officers at a house, and they’re gunning for trouble. Even if it’s some guy and his granny.
Having spent time caring for my elderly mother and mother-in-law, the people who did this should be arrested and tried for attempted murder. A person that old should not be treated like that, and any grown-up knows that.
There's gotta' be more to this story.
This is one of those cop stories that is too ridiculous to be true ... and yet, after reading about how cops killed a 13 year old Pug dog with 8 rounds, I tend to believe cops would tase an 86 year old bed ridden woman ...
Wonder if Brian Dell knows Officer Neckvein who captured the ambulance driver and the medic?
I love cops. As an EMT I work with them a lot. I know of NONE who would have done this. None.
Just jackbooted morons.They ought to sue the idiot that hired them in the first place.
“This report is obviously based solely on the complaint filed by the granny and grandson. It isn’t a balanced report. I would want to know the other side of the story, although it had better be a doozy to justify what they are alleging happened.”
Absolutely, give them some time to get their stories straight. :)
Did you miss the part where it said “He stated in his report that the 86 year-old plaintiff ‘took a more aggressive posture in her bed,’ and that he was fearful for his safety and the safety of others.”
I know we would all like to think our men in blue are ALL honorable men (and 95% are), some are just either crazy or idiots.
No, if this were my grandmother, I’d be in jail for beating the crap out of some cops.
The article is very misleading.
The event happened in December, 6 months ago.
The 911 call stated that the woman was threatening to commit suicide — left out of the article, — and that’s why police responded. It was not a medical call, it was a suicide/knife call.
She did threaten to kill herself, with a knife, and she was turning the knife on herself in the presence of the police — the police were trying to prevent her from doing that.
There should not have been a taser involved — agreed. The rest is very misleading.
“...the police Tasered an 86-year-old disabled grandma in her bed
after she “took a more aggressive posture in her bed”,
and the police feared for their safety...”
-
I hate cops.
I really do.
If them cops did that to my grandmother I would be waiting outside there house one evening and give them a 2X4 right between the eyes. That is the ultimate act of cowardliness.I support law enforcement officers, tough job but cases like this does not help
Don’t know about the 100% fiction in the police report. I see, with independent research, that the police report stated they were called in initially on the suspicion that she was a potential suicide by overdose. It states when she saw the cops she pulled a knife from under her mattress and threatened to kill anyone who came near her. I don’t see that she threatened to knife herself and I don’t know if a possibility that she was about to expire from drug overdose justifies the tasering but there are certainly two sides of the story. I tend to think there is some fudging on both sides of most debates.
I guess the court has a factual issue to resolve here but I wouldn’t string up the cops automatically.
I know it’s usually not a good idea to rely on only one side’s version of an incident. This story as posted is a recap of the plaintiff’s lawsuit complaint. That document always states the plaintiff’s version in the strongest terms possible. It’s why lawsuits rely on an answer to the complaint, along with lots of evidence to back up the allegations in the complaint and answer.
Thank you.
It's sad that so many FReepers will believe anything provided that it puts cops in a bad light.
Sounds reprehensible... but I’d also like to hear the Police side of things. I’ve learned that when you read such stories, the author didn’t make much of an effort for the opposing side’s story, or was somehow invested in it.
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