Frogger
11-05-2007, 04:43 PM
REDMOND - A former Microsoft worker, Tasered last summer by a Redmond police officer who thought she was drunk, is suing over the incident, saying she was in diabetic shock when she was shot with 50,000 volts of electricity.
"I was so out of it. There was no way I could've been a threat to anyone," said Leila Fuchs, 32, who underwent a kidney transplant seven years ago.
In his own report of the July 10 incident, Redmond Police Lt. Charlie Gorman said Fuchs sat silently in her car while he smashed the passenger-side window and shot her with the stun gun because she refused to unlock her door.
The lawsuit filed Friday in King County Superior Court by her attorney, James Egan, names Gorman, two other officers, Redmond Police Chief Steve Harris and the city of Redmond.
The lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages for excessive force and negligence.
In his report on the incident, which followed a fender-bender, Gorman said officers could smell alcohol inside Fuchs' car, though the doors were locked and the windows rolled up.
Gorman said he identified himself and ordered Fuchs to unlock her door. She failed to respond and sat staring straight ahead.
After issuing a warning, the lieutenant broke the car's passenger-side window, unlocked the passenger-side door and again ordered Fuchs to unlock the driver-side door. Fuchs just stared at him, he said.
"I produced my X-26 Taser and told her that if she did not comply with my order to unlock her door that I was going to use my Taser on her," Gorman wrote in his report.
"She looked away from me without responding and stared straight ahead. I shouted the Taser warning and deployed my Taser from a distance of five feet. The female reacted by screaming and stiffening her body."
The lawsuit says Gorman then forced Fuchs to the ground and placed her in handcuffs.
Minutes later, a follow-up police report says, fire department personnel examined Fuchs at the scene and determined her blood-sugar level was at 44, well below the normal level of 80-120. They offered her 15 grams of glucose and two glucose drinks, and Fuchs gradually became coherent.
A breath test shortly after the incident revealed no presence of alcohol, according to Gorman's police report.
Fuchs said it was the first time she had slipped into hypoglycemic shock since before the 1999 kidney transplant, and that she hasn't had another episode since.
"The thing that really bothers me is that the police department was completely unresponsive to me after the incident. ... They act like nothing happened," Fuchs told the King County Journal on Friday,
"I want the public to know that there is a complete lack of training in the Redmond Police Department when it comes to medical issues like diabetic hypoglycemic shock."
Redmond police spokeswoman Stacey Holland said she could not comment on the case due to the pending litigation.
A Bellevue resident at the time of the incident, Fuchs declined to reveal where she now lives during a telephone interview with the Journal.
http://www.komotv.com/news/archive/4186061.html
This is about a 70 year old woman who was tasered to death in her wheelchair by the cops.
Reading through a commentary thread, someone said: "The sick old woman in this case was 56, looked to be about 300 pounds and was armed with two knives and a hammer and was attempting to assault her sister-""
A respondent who knew the story better noted that there was no sister, the woman was schizophrenic and made that up. The police indeed stated that she was in a wheel chair when they tazered her. As for weilding two steak knives and a hammer, makes folks wonder how many arms this woman had? As for her weight, she's fat, but 300 lbs? Can you guess her height and date of birth too from that picture?
That respondent froze the video and counted the seconds she was electroshocked, as recorded on the police sheet. She couldn't see the entire sheet, but counted at least 90 seconds. ................ this woman was electroshocked for well over one minute and a half.
The respondent then said "I guess they were trying to bake her until she was well done."
FBI reviewing Tasering of sleeping man; no charges file
The Associated Press, 11/03/07 12:53 PM EDT
UPDATED: 11/03/07 12:57 PM EDT
Two North Braddock police officers won't face criminal charges for Tasering a man who was asleep at home. But the FBI will review the incident for possible civil rights violations.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. says county police determined Officers Gerard Kraly and Lukas Laeuricia (loo-REE'-see-uh) didn't commit a crime when they Tasered Shawn Hicks, who was sleeping on his couch.
Police came to Hicks home because they were alerted by a silent security alarm at his home about 2 a.m.
Hicks says the officers Tasered him again after he woke up and showed them ID to prove he lived at the home. Hicks' attorney says he will pursue civil action.
"I was so out of it. There was no way I could've been a threat to anyone," said Leila Fuchs, 32, who underwent a kidney transplant seven years ago.
In his own report of the July 10 incident, Redmond Police Lt. Charlie Gorman said Fuchs sat silently in her car while he smashed the passenger-side window and shot her with the stun gun because she refused to unlock her door.
The lawsuit filed Friday in King County Superior Court by her attorney, James Egan, names Gorman, two other officers, Redmond Police Chief Steve Harris and the city of Redmond.
The lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages for excessive force and negligence.
In his report on the incident, which followed a fender-bender, Gorman said officers could smell alcohol inside Fuchs' car, though the doors were locked and the windows rolled up.
Gorman said he identified himself and ordered Fuchs to unlock her door. She failed to respond and sat staring straight ahead.
After issuing a warning, the lieutenant broke the car's passenger-side window, unlocked the passenger-side door and again ordered Fuchs to unlock the driver-side door. Fuchs just stared at him, he said.
"I produced my X-26 Taser and told her that if she did not comply with my order to unlock her door that I was going to use my Taser on her," Gorman wrote in his report.
"She looked away from me without responding and stared straight ahead. I shouted the Taser warning and deployed my Taser from a distance of five feet. The female reacted by screaming and stiffening her body."
The lawsuit says Gorman then forced Fuchs to the ground and placed her in handcuffs.
Minutes later, a follow-up police report says, fire department personnel examined Fuchs at the scene and determined her blood-sugar level was at 44, well below the normal level of 80-120. They offered her 15 grams of glucose and two glucose drinks, and Fuchs gradually became coherent.
A breath test shortly after the incident revealed no presence of alcohol, according to Gorman's police report.
Fuchs said it was the first time she had slipped into hypoglycemic shock since before the 1999 kidney transplant, and that she hasn't had another episode since.
"The thing that really bothers me is that the police department was completely unresponsive to me after the incident. ... They act like nothing happened," Fuchs told the King County Journal on Friday,
"I want the public to know that there is a complete lack of training in the Redmond Police Department when it comes to medical issues like diabetic hypoglycemic shock."
Redmond police spokeswoman Stacey Holland said she could not comment on the case due to the pending litigation.
A Bellevue resident at the time of the incident, Fuchs declined to reveal where she now lives during a telephone interview with the Journal.
http://www.komotv.com/news/archive/4186061.html
This is about a 70 year old woman who was tasered to death in her wheelchair by the cops.
Reading through a commentary thread, someone said: "The sick old woman in this case was 56, looked to be about 300 pounds and was armed with two knives and a hammer and was attempting to assault her sister-""
A respondent who knew the story better noted that there was no sister, the woman was schizophrenic and made that up. The police indeed stated that she was in a wheel chair when they tazered her. As for weilding two steak knives and a hammer, makes folks wonder how many arms this woman had? As for her weight, she's fat, but 300 lbs? Can you guess her height and date of birth too from that picture?
That respondent froze the video and counted the seconds she was electroshocked, as recorded on the police sheet. She couldn't see the entire sheet, but counted at least 90 seconds. ................ this woman was electroshocked for well over one minute and a half.
The respondent then said "I guess they were trying to bake her until she was well done."
FBI reviewing Tasering of sleeping man; no charges file
The Associated Press, 11/03/07 12:53 PM EDT
UPDATED: 11/03/07 12:57 PM EDT
Two North Braddock police officers won't face criminal charges for Tasering a man who was asleep at home. But the FBI will review the incident for possible civil rights violations.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. says county police determined Officers Gerard Kraly and Lukas Laeuricia (loo-REE'-see-uh) didn't commit a crime when they Tasered Shawn Hicks, who was sleeping on his couch.
Police came to Hicks home because they were alerted by a silent security alarm at his home about 2 a.m.
Hicks says the officers Tasered him again after he woke up and showed them ID to prove he lived at the home. Hicks' attorney says he will pursue civil action.