Deputies dump paralyzed man from wheelchair

[rlg94086]

msnbc.msn.com/id/23143979/

TAMPA, Fla. - Four sheriff’s deputies have been suspended after purposely tipping a paralyzed man out of his wheelchair onto a jailhouse floor, authorities said.

Surveillance footage from Jan. 29 shows Hillsborough County Deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones, 44, dumping Brian Sterner out of his wheelchair and searching him on the floor after he was brought in on a warrant after a traffic violation.

Sterner, 32, said when he was taken into a booking room and told to stand up, Jones grew agitated when he told her that he could not.

“She was irked that I wasn’t complying to what she was telling me to do,” he told The Tampa Tribune in Tuesday’s edition. “It didn’t register with her that she was asking me to do something I can’t do.”

Unbelievable.

The appropriate people have been suspended without pay and will probably be fired. The video is disturbing…one of the deputies is even seen laughing.

 

[kell0618]

I saw the actual footage on the news yesterday. It broke my heart.

msnbc.msn.com/id/23143979/

Unbelievable.

The appropriate people have been suspended without pay and will probably be fired. The video is disturbing…one of the deputies is even seen laughing.

 

[Dale_M]

I am guessing that Ms. Marshall-Jones acted as she did because she assumed that a paraplegic can not drive a car. His car was specially modified with hand pedals instead of foot pedals since he can’t use his legs. The deputy may not have known about the special modification and assumed that he could use his legs… otherwise he wouldn’t be able to drive.

Obviously, she should have gotten more information before she acted.

 

[rlg94086]

I am guessing that Ms. Marshall-Jones acted as she did because she assumed that a paraplegic can not drive a car. His car was specially modified with hand pedals instead of foot pedals since he can’t use his legs. The deputy may not have known about the special modification and assumed that he could use his legs… otherwise he wouldn’t be able to drive.

Obviously, she should have gotten more information before she acted.

I don’t know Dale. The guys in a wheel chair…you tell him to stand up…he explains he can’t because he is a quadraplegic. What additional information do you think she needed?

 

[Dale_M]

I am guessing she thought he was faking it. But this is just a guess - I am trying to come up with some sensible reason for doing such a thing.

 

[rlg94086]

I am guessing she thought he was faking it. But this is just a guess - I am trying to come up with some sensible reason for doing such a thing.

You are right, her stupidity in assuming he was lying is the only rational explanation. The deputy seen laughing about the situation after the man was flopping on the ground while they searched him is a little harder to understand…unless he was laughing at his stupid co-worker.

 

[Hastrman]

You are right, her stupidity in assuming he was lying is the only rational explanation. The deputy seen laughing about the situation after the man was flopping on the ground while they searched him is a little harder to understand…unless he was laughing at his stupid co-worker.

Unless he was laughing because he thought the guy was going all the way with the “scam”, maybe?

And there’s nothing stupid about making assumptions on the basis of limited information. That’s called “thinking”–since nobody has complete information.

 

[Steeltemplar]

after he was brought in on a warrant after a traffic violation.

How does one drive when paralyzed? This is an honest question. Is there some kind of a hand-operated button system they use for the pedals?

 

[turtle18]

Under what circumstances would it EVER be acceptable to dump ANYONE out of their wheelchair? There are many people without any visible handicaps, who suffer from debilitating neurolgical, rheumatological and orthopaedic conditions and can’t stand or walk–Multiple Sclerosis really stands out in my mind but there are plenty of others.

 

[mackone]

This type of thing happens much more often than not. The sad part is that they really are that ignorant. Functionally ignorant, maybe?!?!? AND they do know that what they are doing is not only wrong, it is illegal. Period,

 

[rlg94086]

Unless he was laughing because he thought the guy was going all the way with the “scam”, maybe?

And there’s nothing stupid about making assumptions on the basis of limited information. That’s called “thinking”–since nobody has complete information.

Yeah…she was really “thinking.”

She “thought” herself right out of a job.

 

[rlg94086]

Under what circumstances would it EVER be acceptable to dump ANYONE out of their wheelchair? There are many people without any visible handicaps, who suffer from debilitating neurolgical, rheumatological and orthopaedic conditions and can’t stand or walk–Multiple Sclerosis really stands out in my mind but there are plenty of others.

I agree. Unless you are absolutely certain someone is faking, I think the prudent person would err on the side of assuming the person really is disabled. I don’t see how any “thinking” person would choose to dump them on the floor in that manner.

 

[ALLGIRLS]

I am guessing she thought he was faking it. But this is just a guess - I am trying to come up with some sensible reason for doing such a thing.

Ok, but then how did the guy get to the police station? He obviously had to be moved from his car to the police car, then taken from the police car to the station, in the wheelchair. Do they really think criminals are smart enough to always carry a wheelchair w/ them in the event that they’re arrest so they can “get one over on the man” somehow? For what purpose? I think the woman was just ignorant, and feels superior b/c she’s “law enforcement” and he’s a “scum criminal” (what was the warrent for, btw? A criminal or traffic charge?), and by golly, she said stand up, he’d better stand up, paralyzed or not, YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITY!!! Before I became a SAHM, I was a probation & parole officer for 10 years, and, unfortunately, there’s WAY too many police officers like this (not all them, most officers are wonderful, but a few either start out as jerks, or “the power” quickly goes to their heads).

In Christ,

Ellen

 

[hasikelee]

Unless he was laughing because he thought the guy was going all the way with the “scam”, maybe?

And there’s nothing stupid about making assumptions on the basis of limited information. That’s called “thinking”–since nobody has complete information.

Specifically in our criminal justice system, it was just plain stupid. It certainly wasn’t thinking and that’s certainly not a good defense for her actions, because even if the man could walk, it still would have been illegal to physically force a man onto the floor without a self-defense reason.

 

[jmcrae]

Jones has been suspended without pay, and Sgt. Gary Hinson, 51, Cpl. Steven Dickey, 45 and Cpl. Decondra Williams, 36 have also been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

“The actions are indefensible at every level,” Chief Deputy Jose Docobo said. “Based on what I saw, anything short of dismissal would be inappropriate.”

Good.

 

[whatevergirl]

msnbc.msn.com/id/23143979/

Unbelievable.

The appropriate people have been suspended without pay and will probably be fired. The video is disturbing…one of the deputies is even seen laughing.

This took place in my new home city–Tampa? Why am I shocked…Florida has gotten so bizarre over the years. Lovely weather…but, just a bizarre mix of people live here. This is a sad story.

 

[lizaanne]

I agree. Unless you are absolutely certain someone is faking, I think the prudent person would err on the side of assuming the person really is disabled. I don’t see how any “thinking” person would choose to dump them on the floor in that manner.

 

[rlg94086]

Ok, but then how did the guy get to the police station? He obviously had to be moved from his car to the police car, then taken from the police car to the station, in the wheelchair. Do they really think criminals are smart enough to always carry a wheelchair w/ them in the event that they’re arrest so they can “get one over on the man” somehow? For what purpose? I think the woman was just ignorant, and feels superior b/c she’s “law enforcement” and he’s a “scum criminal” (what was the warrent for, btw?** A criminal or traffic charge**?), and by golly, she said stand up, he’d better stand up, paralyzed or not, YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITY!!! Before I became a SAHM, I was a probation & parole officer for 10 years, and, unfortunately, there’s WAY too many police officers like this (not all them, most officers are wonderful, but a few either start out as jerks, or “the power” quickly goes to their heads).

In Christ,

Ellen

What I have read is that it was a traffic offence - fleeing and attempting to elude an officer.

 

[jmcrae]

What I have read is that it was a traffic offence - fleeing and attempting to elude an officer.

He was stopped for blocking traffic in an intersection. I must have missed where he was trying to elude the police. (If he was blocking the intersection, then the traffic must have been backed up in every direction - how did he intend to elude police?)

 

[rlg94086]

He was stopped for blocking traffic in an intersection. I must have missed where he was trying to elude the police. (If he was blocking the intersection, then the traffic must have been backed up in every direction - how did he intend to elude police?)

I have no idea…I just wrote what I read on one of the many articles about the incident. Perhaps the reporter got it wrong.

foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330462,00.html

Records show Sterner was arrested on charges of fleeing and attempting to elude a law enforcement officer from an incident on Oct. 25.