Nos genuflectitur ad non princeps sed Princeps Pacem!
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)
Posted on 06/07/2012 1:49:37 PM PDT by kiryandil
BALTIMORE (CN) - When an architect crashed his car while suffering a diabetic reaction on the way home from Bible study class, state and county police pepper sprayed him in the face and clubbed and Tasered him to death, his wife claims in court.
Linda Johnson sued the Maryland State Police, Baltimore County Police, their top commanders and six officers who allegedly beat and Tasered to death Carl D. Johnson on May 27, 2010. Johnson suffered a diabetic attack sometime after 8:15 p.m. that night, after calling a friend to tell him he was leaving his Bible class, according to the complaint in Baltimore County Court. He suffered a diabetic attack, crashed on the I-795, and his car came to rest against the guardrail in the median near the merger with I-695.
According to the complaint, when State Trooper Davon Parker arrived and tapped on the window, and Johnson managed to lower the window, Parker pepper sprayed him in the face. Johnson then got out of his car and Parker clubbed him at least once in the knee. Defendant Officer Loss (fnu) then arrived and whacked Johnson at least twice with his club, the complaint states.
Baltimore County Police Officer Nicholas Wolferman then arrived, whacked Johnson "at least three times" with his own baton, then he and Officer Loss "grabbed Mr. Johnson and threw him over the guardrail," Johnson's widow says. She claims the very first officer on the scene knew or should have known that her husband was suffering from a medical problem.
Nonetheless, after throwing him over the guardrail, the cops applied pressure points to his ears and armpits, she says. Three more cops arrived, including Baltimore County Officer Andrew O'Neill, who Tasered Johnson twice. Officer Loss then punched him in the face and the six officers managed to handcuff him, the widow says. Eight more cops arrived, and someone took his wallet, which included a medical alert card about his diabetes. Nonetheless, the cops forcibly held him down, though he was not resisting, and was handcuffed, his wife says.
"Upon information and belief, there were approximately 52 individuals that responded to the scene," according to the complaint.
The widow claims Johnson was Tasered at least three times, while he was lying on his back, helpless, surrounded by police. He became "motionless and speechless" and was pronounced dead within an hour of cardiac arrest.He was the 10th person to die since 2004 after being subjected to police electroshock in Maryland, the Baltimore Sun reported in a story about Johnson's death.
Linda Johnson seeks more than $10 million in punitive damages for wrongful death, loss of consortium, false imprisonment, false arrest, battery, gross negligence and other charges. She is represented by Mark Millstein and David Silbiger, both of Baltimore.
"Upon information and belief, there were approximately 52 individuals that responded to the scene," according to the complaint.
I don't think the Founding Fathers had this in mind for American law enforcement. Of course, Maryland is one of the most fascist states. Look at what they did to Linda Tripp, and look at how BTK used the Maryland legal system to "get" Aaron Walker.
No wonder the country is broke, if we're paying 52 guys to beat diabetic seizure cases to death.
Good thing he didn't have a dog with him.
There has got to be something more to this story....did he run over a little kid or something? Crash into a school bus?
Just what in the hell would that many ‘public servants’ be responding to an interstate crash for? Something is not being told here.
Regardless, if the wife’s story is accurate and there were no other extenuating egregious injury to bystanders, any officer that carried a taser or carried a club or held him down and held pressure on him lifeless should be tried, convicted and executed in my book.
Years and years ago I was in court fighting a traffic ticket and listened to a case almost identical to this poor guy. He also had Diabetes and the cops assumed that he was drunk.
One of the very few times I’ve ever heard a judge tear into a cop - he browbeat him and shamed the crap out of him.
Oh, and I almost forgot - my speeding ticket case was next and every bit of sympathy was used up in the judge ;-)
From an earlier article:
“But Baltimore County police say Johnson got into a rumble with officers Thursday after crashing his Toyota pickup truck near a busy highway interchange, and continued fighting after being doused with pepper spray and receiving an initial hit from a Taser.”
Does a guy in a diabetic reaction fight with a bunch of cops?
“Here in Maryland we don’t get a chance to hit diabetics very often so when we do we try to take full advantage of the opportunity as a training session”.
“It’s a shame the man died of diabetes, most of our officers contribute to the Diabetes Foundation. And the Die of Beating Foundation too.”
Man you messed up! When they called your name you should have fell to the floor and started shaking like you was having a seizure! ;-)
I’m not that quick thinking on my feet, er back.
Maybe, but I doubt it. It can make a person act drunk, however.
52 cops....1 diabetic = 10 million.
Actually, that IS fair!
Put the cops in jail, where they belong.
We received extensive training 5 years ago to help with situations like this; there have been multiple incidents here where diabetics have had accidents here and they’ve been handled appropriately.
IF the complaint is all true then adequate punishment should be handed down post haste. Experienced cops should be able to discern a drunk from a diabetic from a pill head from a meth head.....it’s not that hard unless all 52 personnel were affirmative action hires or something.
One caveat I have, perhaps sufferers of certain levels of diabetes should not be able to drive....it’s not really fair but if they’re prone to seizures and passing out then the safety of other drivers should really come into play.
About a year of so ago there was a widely circulated video of from a motorcyclist who was dealt with very aggressively by a MD state trooper driving an unmarked car. The victim’s problems really began when he responded to being treated with a heavy hand by posting the video of the incident on YouTube.
It is obvious that Maryland public officials are running a Police State and they like it just fine.
Maryland, you have a big problem with your Government Class that will take a long time to solve.
This is not an isolated incident. Very common in this country. Vote against funding police at your local level. Too many cops. Too many laws. Broad discretionary powers. You Freepers who keep voting for things like seatbelt laws, testing laws are idiots.
(not speaking directly to kiryandil of course).
I wasn’t even thinking about money. No amount of money for what they did is enough, if the wife’s assertion is accurate.
And, for what seems an entire police department contingent, $10M is a drop in the bucket. One hundred million is enough of a start for that police department to seriously start looking at what it does and what kind of goons it hires.
yep...and vote for right to carry. Cost the tax payer a whole lot less, more effective at crime prevention, and its the constitutionally right thing to do.
This kinda 8ull$hit needs to stop.
” One hundred million is enough of a start for that police department to seriously start looking at what it does and what kind of goons it hires.”
Police brutality and misconduct is increasing every year.
They are hiring highly unqualified people. I wonder if they hire cops that were fired elsewhere, because they can get them cheap?
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