Police Taser, Pepper Spray Mentally Disabled Deaf Man

Super_Dave_D · Super_Dave_D's Garage

The magistrate wouldn't touch it - lol!!!

Tidybuoy · 07-28-2009, 07:49 AM

Just one more reason not to use public restrooms.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I don't like the stink of this

m21sniper · 07-28-2009, 08:17 AM

I'd need way more details to offer a reasonable opinion on this one.

Mo_Gearhead · 07-28-2009, 08:25 AM

Hummm .... if a deaf man drops a log in a public toilet, and there are no humans near by to hear it, ... does it actually make a noise?

m21sniper · 07-28-2009, 08:28 AM

Honestly how did they know the man was not just distressed or in difficult physical straits?

Why not pick the lock(or disassemble the door)?

What makes them think, "Hey, disabled deaf man- let's pepper spray and taze him!"

And if the judge refuses the charges......does that mean they basically commited felony aggravated assault on this man?

mossguy · 07-28-2009, 08:28 AM

32 minutes from original post to Sniper's reply.

Sniper! You're slipping!

Best,
Tom

m21sniper · 07-28-2009, 08:30 AM

Sorry, was eating lunch.

rammstein · 07-28-2009, 08:37 AM

I'd like to find out the exact transpirings. Why were the cops called? What was the report from the caller? What happened when they knocked?

sammyg2 · 07-28-2009, 09:01 AM

Yep, gotta be more to this.

m21sniper · 07-28-2009, 09:07 AM

Gotta be.

sammyg2 · 09:44 AM

10 second google turned this up. Still not good, but more of an innocent tragic set of unusual circumstances.

Seems to me that a disabled man with the mental capacity of a 10 year old wouldn't be left alone to fend for himself, maybe the family should be taking better care of him instead of filing lawsuits. We should be suing them.

You'd think that if he wasn't feeling good and went to the bathroom and didn't come back for an hour, someone would go looking for him.

Quote:

Ala. police: Taser use on disabled man justified
(AP) – 1 hour ago

MOBILE, Ala. — Officers who used pepper spray and a Taser to remove a man from a store bathroom found out only later he was deaf and mentally disabled and didn't understand they wanted him to open the door, police said Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Mobile Police Department said the officers' actions were justified because the man was armed with a potential weapon — an umbrella.

But relatives of Antonio Love, 37, have asked for a formal investigation and said they plan to sue both the police and the store.

"I want justice," Love's mother, Phyllis Love, said Tuesday.

The woman said her son hears only faintly, has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old and didn't realize that it was the police who were trying enter the bathroom.

"He thought the devil was out there trying to get in to get him," she said.

Antonio Love, in a written statement and in a television interview given in sign language about the confrontation, said he had a badly upset stomach last Friday and went into a Dollar General store to use the restroom.

Police spokesman Christopher Levy said Tuesday store workers called officers complaining that a man had been in the bathroom for more than an hour with the door locked. Officers knocked on the door and identified themselves, but the person didn't respond.

Officers used a tire iron to open the door, but the man pushed back to keep it shut. Officers saw the umbrella and sprayed pepper spray through a crack trying to subdue the man, Levy said. They shot the man with a Taser when they finally got inside, he said.

Officers didn't realize Love was deaf or had mental problems until he showed them a card he carries in his wallet, Levy said. He was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, but officers released him and took him home after a magistrate refused to issue a warrant.

Levy said officers were justified in using force against Love since he had an umbrella.

"The officers really worked within the limits of our level-of-force policy," he said. "We had no information about who this guy was."

Phyllis Love said her son, who has worked in the garden department at a Lowe's store for several years, was scared when he realized someone was trying to get into the bathroom with him. He put water on his face and on the floor after being hit with pepper spray, she said.

"He didn't know it was a policeman until they busted the door in on him," she said. "He had a knot on his head from where it hit him."

Levy said police wish the confrontation had never occurred. The internal investigation will include a review of Love's complaints that officers laughed at him after realizing he was deaf, he said.

"We'll make whatever efforts we can to resolve this situation, hopefully so this man will be able to trust police in the future so we can help him. Obviously, it's going to be a rough road," he said.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Rot 911 · 07-28-2009, 09:51 AM

I wonder if Obama is going to come to his defense?

m21sniper · 07-28-2009, 10:34 AM

Quote:

A spokesman for the Mobile Police Department said the officers' actions were justified because the man was armed with a potential weapon — an umbrella.

Are you kidding me?

Unbelievable.

911pcars · 07-28-2009, 10:43 AM

Was Sgt. Crowley involved?

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Sherwood

legion · 07-28-2009, 10:50 AM

Okay, I get how this went down...kinda.

Man is in bathroom for over an hour. Store employees call police. Police open door, man closes it again. Police pepper spray man who doesn't respond and tazer him when the get to him. I understand this sequence of events. It is unfortunate, and would have been prevented if his family had been there with him. (Would you leave

legion · 07-28-2009, 10:52 AM

Okay, I get how this went down...kinda.

Man is in bathroom for over an hour. Store employees call police. Police open door, man closes it again. Police pepper spray man who doesn't respond and tazer him when the get to him. I understand this sequence of events. It is unfortunate, and would have been prevented if his family had been there with him. (Would you leave 10-year-old alone in a store bathroom for an hour?)

What I don't get is why the police arrested and tried to charge him after they found out he was deaf and mentally impaired? That seems to be some pretty blatant ass-covering on their parts.

Are the police to blame? Yes, because they didn't back down when the situation became clear.

Is the family to blame? Yes, because they didn't keep on eye on a family member that requires constant supervision.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Years ago I had a roommate whose GF was totally deaf. She was so hot and we could always comment on her when her back was turned to us and she couldn't hear a thing

. But sometimes she'd knock on the door when someone was in the shower. Obviously, she couldn't hear the water or the occupant yell, "I'm in here." What a PITA is was when she used to call the house via the Virginia Relay Service. It took several minutes to get to "Chris is not home. I'll have him call you."

rouxroux · 07-28-2009, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Are you kidding me?

Unbelievable.

Hey, maybe he'd watched one too many Batman episodes and thought he was "The Penguin".....Those umbrellas can be killers!
whaaaaa.....whaaaaa.....waddle, waddle.

island_dude · 07-28-2009, 03:03 PM

I am waiting for the posts saying that if he had only complied fully with the officer's orders none of this would ever have happened. While its true he was in the bathroom for a ridiculously long time, they sure turned the heat up fast. The fact that they found it necessary to arrest him after seeing an ID card saying he was disabled calls their judgment into question. Claiming the umbrella was a weapon is pretty much over the top.