Cop Tasered a man 11 times while he was having a diabetic seizure

[mystieus]

Source: Courthouse News Service

(CN) - A suburban Chicago police officer Tasered a man 11 times while he was having a diabetic seizure, and the 56 seconds of needlessly inflicted electric shock, "inflicted ... while he was lying unresponsive on the floor of his bedroom, permanently scarred and caused him neurological damage that has not abated," the man claims in Chicago Federal Court.
Prospero Lassi says he suffered a diabetes-induced seizure at home on April 9. His roommate called 911, and police from LaGrange Park and Brookfield responded, with EMTs from LaGrange Park.
Lassi says his roommate explained to police that he was having a diabetic seizure. Lassi "was not alert and could not move his body."
When the EMTs asked the cops to help them move Lassi from where he was lying on the floor, Lassi says, one of his "arms flailed during his diabetes-induced seizure, striking one of the LaGrange and Brookfield defendants. At no time did Mr. Lassi intentionally strike or offensively touch any of the LaGrange or Brookfield defendants."
Lassi says LaGrange Park Officer Darren Pedota responded by Tasering him 11 times, for nearly a minute, as he lay helpless.
He was hospitalized for 5 days, and was unable to work for 3 months because of the attack, "and his quality of life has suffered substantially," Lassi says.
"At no time did Mr. Lassi do anything to warrant the use of force against him. Mr. Lassi was never cited, arrested, or charged with any crime," according to the complaint.
He seeks punitive damages for battery, excessive force, and failure to intervene. He is represented by Arthur Loevy of Loevy & Loevy.

Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/12/28/23144.htm

[Cirque du So-What]

1. LaGrange Park doesn't want me on that jury

I would advocate 10X punitive damages. There's not a cop in the land who hasn't heard about permanent neurological damage - even death - caused from overzealous use of the taser. Note to municipalities: if you don't want your fiscal budget going toward paying victims in lawsuits against your psychopaths with badges, put them on a shorter leash or fire them at the first sign of pathological behavior. It's gotta be cheaper than paying off lawsuits, right?

[yowzayowzayowza]

2. Me either.

One wonders how the officer woulda dealt with this w/o the taser. Batton?

[Cirque du So-What]

17. Immobilization seems the most likely course in this instance

The cop wasn't alone, so you can't tell me that everyone present couldn't have laid hands on this medical patient & held him until being restrained with the straps on the gurney. Looks to me like the cop is a hothead who couldn't handle getting struck, even inadvertently. It looks like he was trying to punish the medical patient; I'd go so far as to call it torture. If it were up to me, this sadistic motherfucker would be kicked off the force & never allowed to touch a gun for the rest of his life. He's done screwed the pooch where acting like a civilized human being while in possession of weaponry is concerned.

[47of74]

6. Agreed

The time I was done the city would be in receivership.

[uponit7771]

13. amen

[blondeatlast]

14. Heh; I'm type I and a paralegal. I'd love to be on the jury, but wouldn't make it through

voir dire.

[Cirque du So-What]

18. Neither would I, unless I lied about my feelings

The cop's defense attorney would kick me out tout de suite.

[MadMaddie]

3. This police officer needs to go away for a long time for felony

assault.

There is no way that he was taught that tasering someone 11 times is appropriate.

[me b zola]

31. +1

[47of74]

4. There are good officers out there

Then there are idiots like the idiot who tasered a sick man. That idiot should be fired and be permanently barred from even touching a taser.

[cabluedem]

38. Really? I never met any. They enjoy torturing people and making you scared. nt

[RumJungle]

43. Ohh yeah scary cops scaring the innocents!!

You never met a good cop? Never had a relative call the cops for help?

[gaspee]

45. Never met a good one

And my family are cops - the motherfucking abusive power hungry sadistic bastards!

[JVS]

5. Put that pig in jail!

[Edweird]

7. That is inexcusable. Sue like hell.

[Echo In Light]

8. Puke. On an up-note, though, love your avatar pic mystieus!

[CreekDog]

9. Does this and other stories make you more or less likely to think the police will help a situation?

we had a similar incident near here in San Mateo.

[Cirque du So-What]

20. When you're a hammer, all problems look like nails

Adrenaline + testosterone is a heady mixture; some people can't handle it.

[asdjrocky]

10. 99% of cops give the rest a bad name. nt

[Echo In Light]

16. You got it

[cabluedem]

39. Bingo! We have a WINNER!! nt

[gaspee]

46. LOL

Agree 100% - and the ones I'm related to SUCK - to a man (they're all men, don't know about women cops) they're power hungry, sadistic and abusive. And the way they talk about people - it's quite eye opening to have cop relatives who think you agree with them.

[berni_mccoy]

11. I have two sons with type-1 and I fear something like this will happen to them some day.

[blondeatlast]

12. When I was first diagnoed at 7, I had a hypoglycemic attck so badly

that I didn't recognize my own father, who was trying to subdue me to treat me. I kept screaming at him "I want my father!" and was so strong that I was able to fight him off.

May Mr. Lassi enjoy a long and prosperous life with financial help from the LaGrange PD. .

[undeterred]

15. my father was a type 1 diabetic and he was always

afraid that some cop would think he was drunk

[ThomCat]

19. I wish this article said more about the official response to this.

I hope the department sacked that officer. Though somehow I doubt it. Police departments usually tend to defend their officers no matter how horrible the indiscriminate use of force. :(

I hope Mr. Lassi wins his lawsuit, and I hope the officer has to personally pay a large part of the judgement. I hope that cop gets forced into anger management treatment, and never gets another job ever again where he has authority over others.

Most of all, I hope Mr. Lassi can find a way to recover from the damage that was done to him. Neurological pain does not respond to pain killers. It is persistent, drug resistant pain that hounds you no matter what you do, and the other symptoms and problems that come with the neurological damage can be just as severely limiting.

I'm sure that cop has no idea how much harm he really did, or how much harm he could cause. It sounds like he considered his taser a toy he had permission to use against anyone who irritated or annoyed him.

[LiberalFighter]

47. I wonder who gave him the idea it was a toy.

[Beacho]

21. That cop needs to be charged with assault

at the very least

Ban tasers now!

[mzmolly]

22. Horrible story.

I know a diabetic who happens to be 6'3" and he gets violent during seizures. The last call that was made, authorities sent four paramedics and a seven foot cop. He also flailed about, but they handled it beautifully. A woman paramedic was in charge and she had each paramedic sit on one limb and they administered dextrose via i.v.

In previous situations it was not handled as well, and a paramedic was punched in the jaw. Fortunately he understood that this was unintentional.

[jwirr]

23. I hope there is one huge lawsuit. This idiocy has got to stop.

[truedelphi]

33. See my lengthier response in # 32. The Ninth District Circuit

Court of San Francisco has issued a very relevant and very important ruling on Tasers.

[jwirr]

24. The Jews in Germany had to wear a star on their sleeves. Is it coming

to the time when anyone with an illness will have to wear some symbol to be safe on our streets?

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. lot of people already wear medic alert bracelets or dogtags.

[jwirr]

26. I know but they are small and not always visible to others. I do not

want to wear a "star" anymore than the Jews wanted to but it is dangerous out there and it is our police we often have to fear.

[KG]

27. i'm sure it was merely another exceptional incident.

:eyes:

[RedCappedBandit]

28. Guys, we can't judge him because we've never been in such a situation!

We civilians simply don't understand how hard it is to be a cop!

:eyes:

[cabluedem]

41. Lets see, starting wage here is almost $5000 per month. Cops dont work cheap these days. nt

[Odin2005]

29. Ban tasers.

[cabluedem]

42. Yeap!

[Leftist Agitator]

30. Imprison the cop for battery and torture.

Let the inmates have their way with him.

Ten or so years of constant beatings and anal rape will teach him not to do that ever again.

[truedelphi]

32. Breaking news on Monday Dec 28th San Francisco Chronicle

Ninth District Court ruled that Tasers can only legally be used by police when the police are facing an actual threat to their life. And/or only when the individual to be tased has committed or is in the middlle of committing a serious crime.

Period.

The police man charged with the illegal use of the Taser had stopped a man for not wearing a seat belt. He argued that the defendant had gotten out of his car, that the defendant had walked towards him, and that the man had sworn.

the police officer also tried to argue that since he thought perhaps the man was mentally ill, he had the legitimate right to taser the man!

[TexasObserver]

34. We wouldn't allow animal control to behave like this.

But police do it far too often.

[billyclem]

35. Incidents like this make you wonder what type of psychological

testing, if any, prospective and current police officers receive before they are trusted with weapons.

I am in favor of TASERS (PAY ATTENION) if they are used inplace of a firearm in dangerous situations and only then.(RELAX ATTENION) They have no place when used like the idiot/sadist in the article. The problem as I see it is that most police do not view the TASER as a real weapon that can have lasting effects. To them it is little more than a toy that causes momentary pain, a sad, sad state of affairs.

[cabluedem]

40. Is that before or after they inject the anabolic steroids? We need drug testing for cops! nt

[Ilsa]

36. The defense won't let a nurse on that jury, either. nt

[LiberalFighter]

48. I've got a solution. Make sure the jury pool are all nurses or other sane people.

Then when they strike them off the jury there will still be nurses or other sane people.

[cabluedem]

37. The day of reckoning for cops like this is coming when the money runs out. nt

[gopwacker_455]

44. damn cops are out of control in this country

[Taitertots]

49. Does the system work?

Lets see:
This police officer is more than likely going to lose his job. He will get sued and lose most of his money. The police will get sued and make the victim a fortune. There is a chance the officer could face jail time, depending on the actions of prosecutors.


How do we increase efficiency of enforcement and limit risk to the population?
Stopping tasers is not the answer. It is simply a tool that brings to light the problems of the system. Before tasers it was guns and clubs. Now the same problems exist, they have just been transfered to a new technology. Dramatically increase oversight for police, increase punishments for misconduct, and increase community involvement.