Police Said to Taze Grandmother ("Don't taze my Granny!")

Courthouse News ^ | 06-24-2010 | Tim Hull

[cricket]

Read this earlier and could not believe it. Made me wonder if these men are working to become members of Obama's 'secret police' - or if just connected to Obama 'health& human services'. . .What?

Certainly, they have a totalitarian and barbarously ignorant MO; which seems almost to hail the worst visions of 'brave new world'.

Imagine this child; imagine this Grandmother surviving this grievious assault and insult. (And for how long; imagine this could well, cut her 'time'). . .

(Can only wonder, what else have the men done; in the name of protecting the citizens of this community. . .)

[Filo]

I love cops.

If you pay attention I'm sure that'll change someday.

As an EMT I work with them a lot. I know of NONE who would have done this. None.

And that settles it! Your limited anecdotal evidence is clearly more than enough to negate every single one of the hundreds of police misconduct posts seen every year on this site alone.

[peeps36]

I want the officer to demonstrate how the 86 year old bedridden woman took a more aggressive posture while still in her bed. The officers who used force against this woman should be fired immediately if the story is true.

[cricket]

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.

What could justify this. . .and old woman on oxygen - in her bed; has her skin ripped off and is rendered unconscious - after more than one strike with taser! Meantime, her grand-son is threatened and hand-cuffed and thrown in car.

Nowhere do police deny any of what transpired - only explain; that they were endangered and so compelled to use taser! NO WAY. . .no matter 'what' Granny may have shouted at them. . .

[autumnraine]

Ok, I concede to those who wanted the other side...

Police claim she had a knife and that she actually cut her own arm when they were trying to take the knife from her (after the tazing which is a little strange since they said they got the knife AFTER the tazing and how on earth could an 86 year old woman be still able to physically fight them getting the knife after being tazed?)

Regardless, here is the officer’s version of events. I imagine the knife will be shown in court for evidence. Interesting either way.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/33557136/Dallas-Org-El-Reno-Police-Report-on-Lona-Varner

[Filo]

Don’t know about the 100% fiction in the police report.

Maybe it's closer to 99%.

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.

And the guy that called the police states that he didn't make that claim. Hopefully the 911 tape doesn't get "lost" before trial.

It states when she saw the cops she pulled a knife from under her mattress and threatened to kill anyone who came near her.

And a bedridden octogenarian female is clearly a mortal danger to 10 cops who were told by the homeowner to leave the home.

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.

There sure are two sides: the truth and the fiction. 99 times out of 100 the cops are making up the fiction to justify their behavior.

I guess the court has a factual issue to resolve here but I wouldn’t string up the cops automatically.

I have found that I can attain just about the same accuracy by condemning the cops without research as I can by finding out what crimes they committed.

Shortcuts are a good idea when they work reliably.

[autumnraine]

Well, they claim she said she was going to kill them like ‘she killed the japs in WWII’. I didn’t realize we had women in combat in WW2, although she probably has dementia.

I realize that she had a knife and threatened to kill them if they came near, but she is IMMOBILIZED in her BED! Couldn’t they have called EMS and had them tranqulize her or something? Barney Fife overreaction at best.

[theDentist]

I’m just saying I want to hear BOTH SIDES of the story.

[caseinpoint]

All righty, then. Let’s dispense with the need for this civil suit and just order the city to cough up $100 million to this lady and her grandson, seeing as you already know who’s being truthful and who’s not. Maybe you can hire yourself out as a roving judge, jury and executioner. It must be nice to be so omniscient. I’m not so I want to hear both sides of the story and have a neutral judge and jury establish the reliability of the proof.

[ThomasSawyer]

El “Reno 911”

[hoosierham]

To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail;to a cop with a taser....

Part ofr the problem is a society conditioned to call 911 rather than tackle any problem.Just call the Magic Number 911,and we will send men with guns to take charge.

[Farmer Dean]

The cops could just back off and leave her room.People a lot younger than her have died after being tazed.

[Farmer Dean]

The cops could just back off and leave her room.People a lot younger than her have died after being tazed.

[cricket]

I realize that she had a knife and threatened to kill them if they came near, but she is IMMOBILIZED in her BED! Couldn’t they have called EMS and had them tranqulize her or something? Barney Fife overreaction at best.

Can think of NO excuse for tazing an debilitated, oxygen-dependent, old women in her bed! No matter what!

A damning judgment IMHO; for the entire response team.

(On 'granny' it is ok. . .on unruly children; it is OK. . .a noisy student; a woman getting a speeding ticket - on our citizens, it is OKAY (!); but have they EVER used a tazer at Gitmo?) Bet not. . .

[caseinpoint]

“Can think of NO excuse for tazing an debilitated, oxygen-dependent, old women in her bed! No matter what!”

Let me posit one. Not saying it was the case but I think it could be in the realm of possibility: Suppose, as has been alleged by the cops, this call was to prevent a suicide. The lady is obviously debilitated and threatening to kill anyone who comes near her. If you believe she might have already put her plans for suicide in effect by overdosing herself, and you have only a limited time to get her to a hospital for a stomach pump session, then it might, MIGHT, figure into why the taser would be used to disarm her and get her help. Could they have backed off and waited for EMT’s? Maybe butr again, if you think time is of the essence, they might have wondered if it would be too late. And if this lady died because cops didn’t intervene as requested, there’s a lawsuit also.

Again, not saying that’s what happened, but that’s why we need to hear both sides.

[sig226]

These guys are extremely lucky that they didn’t start a fire by shooting a taser at someone in bed with oxygen. That was incredibly stupid.

[OldPossum]

If the cops did (any) of this, they should be taken out and shot down like dogs...

Naw, shooting dogs is a cop specialty.

[cydcharisse]

It was a balanced report. The cops’ side is that she assumed an aggressive posture in bed. That’s plenty of reason to taser her.

What else do you need to know?

[bog trotter]

Re: Sad so many freepers....
Well, I’m a great gramma and I haven’t recently encountered any in law enforcement that weren’t totally distrustful. Sorry, that’s the way is it hereabouts.