Florida Police Dump Quadriplegic Man From His Wheelchair

[DeSwiss]

Source: The Huffington Post (CBS)

Florida Police Dump Quadriplegic Man From His Wheelchair



In Hillsborough County, Florida, police were caught, by their own surveillance cameras, dumping a quadriplegic man from his wheelchair and onto the ground. Apparently they were trying to determine whether or not he actually needed the chair.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3822534n">CBS Video Link

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/12/florida-police-dump-quadr_n_86290.html

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- I lack sufficient words to describe my revulsion for these cretins.....

[GOPNotForMe]

1. Of course it's Florida....

I love it but it's SUCH a busted state.

[roguevalley]

24. sweet Jesus. What a loathesome thing.

[timtom]

28. Please stop it!

The outrage and infamy are EVERYWHERE! Stop making the specific location an issue!

[GOPNotForMe]

30. No, I don't think I will.

Thanks for the hysterical response though.

[timtom]

31. What a kind and considerate reply.

I'm not certain of your educational level, but you clearly mistook dramatic emphasis (a rhetorical ploy) for hysteria.

I'm glad we could have this colloquy -- this "meeting of the minds".

But, as to the substance of my outcry:

Broad Brush.

I have nothing further to say.

[GOPNotForMe]

79. I'm a high school dropout.

And thanks for making me feel like shit.

Actually, I'm not a high school dropout, but I certainly don't feel like having some silly debate over who's smarter or bitchier. I do, however, think you should know that making statements like that can actually be pretty hurtful to some people.

[timtom]

81. I'm sorry if something I said hurt you.

It's a "fight-or-flight" reaction with me.

I had made a request.

In your response, you used the term "hysterical". That set me off.

That's all.

Now, let's not both of us do this again. Agreed?

Peace.

[GOPNotForMe]

84. Agreed!

[madaboutharry]

2. what a-holes.

This further solidifies my opinion about personality disorders and the desire to become a police officer.

Although, they were very nice to me when my car was stolen. :(

[AX10]

3. They aren't called PIGS for nothing.

[stlsaxman]

9. The term "Pigs" comes from the Yippies referring to George Orwell's Animal Farm

but it also make me remember the cartoon "Pigs Is Pigs"

http://www.2luo.com/watch?v=OxBCtnL5y78&feature=related

seriously- that Deputy needs to be kicked off the force.

[Zodiak]

11. wow...it comes from that?

Well then, why is it a considered a slur?

I believe it to be an apt comparison....that or whatever animal helped the pigs keep control.

[Skittles]

18. oh come on

that is ugly broad-brushing in the extreme

[zanne]

82. Skittles; It's getting harder and harder to give them a pass.

We see examples of police bullying people every day now. I realize that most of them are good public servants and not prone to things like this, but you have to admit that they're getting pretty fast and loose with the rules out there. The increased use of tasers also worries me.

[zonkers]

4. The shitty smile on the deputy at the end of the tape -- sheesh.

[superconnected]

5. Some cops are bad cops, not all.

These particular ones would have a problem even if they weren't cops.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Yeah, 99%

give the other 1% a bad name :)

[LisaL]

7. Just saw it on TV. It was awful.

They could have really hurt the poor guy.

[Patchuli]

8. Thanks to those a$$holes,

the taxpayers of Hillsborough County are going to be compensating this gentleman for that. That is unbelievable!!!! How CAN anyone treat someone like that? What was the sheriff's point to that, anyway? How many people pretend to be a quadriplegic and why would they??! What morons!

[Donnachaidh]

10. I certainly hop this guy sues the a-hole who dumped him

He should be suing BOTH the county AND the officers involved. Dump THEM on their asses and clean them out of everything but the shirts on their backs.

This was OBSCENE.

[Patchuli]

25. After seeing the video of

the woman in Ohio being force strip-searched by the Canton police and now this, I am OUTRAGED! Since when did 'public servant' change to something as hideous as the creeps on the tapes of these human rights violations?

[High Plains]

33. It's an ongoing process, probably dating back to Nixon...

...and the rise of "law and order" politics.

[Patchuli]

74. More like dating back to the Old West!

It's time to restore the rule of law, especially to the law!

[ThatsMyBarack]

32. I'd take their shirts, too!

[Divine Discontent]

12. I am permitted to state what I've seen

I repeatedly see people that work in the law enf. field down here, esp. in hospitals and public buildings be extremely rude, and belittling.

When I saw this slovenly lady lift his wheelchair up, on the video, and shove his body forward, it made me furious - what a pathetic excuse for someone who KNOWS it's wrong to abuse handicapped individuals even more so than able-bodied types.

I want her locked up for 6 months, I do....

[marshall]

15. Lady cops scare me

They have to be more aggressive to assert their power, I suppose.

[LiberalFighter]

20. I believe in some states it would be a felony

[tanyev]

13. OMG.

:cry:

[bobthedrummer]

14. "January 1, 1934: 'The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring' took effect"

(archived thread started 1-1-2008)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2570336

[defendandprotect]

16. Our "civil servants" have been ENCOURAGED to this behavior by the r-w leaderhship --

We've had police enforcement the equivalent of the KKK all across America for decades -- !!!

The fish stinks from the head down ---

You can't have this happen without an implied permission ---

[Cass]

17. OMG. What a jerk.

He had no right to do that to that guy. Whats the matter with some people? More and more these days it seems people enjoy humiliating and bullying others. Hope this cop gets fired for this.

[LisaL]

19. The cop who did it was a woman.

[Sanity Claws]

21. The poor man - 2 broken ribs

What has this country come to?

[Pastiche423]

22. "...they were trying to determine whether or not he actually needed the chair"

Why din't she just look at his hands? There is no mistaking a "quad claw". It would be bad enough if the man could have used his hands to brace his fall, but this man couldn't.

That woman needs to be dumped from a chair while her hands and feet are bound.

Then fired. :mad:

[Ezlivin]

34. I fear this treatment from the police

I'm a paraplegic and I've wondered what would happen if I accidentally "set off" a police officer. I wouldn't want to be pulled from my van to the ground; one injury could put me in the hospital for months.

Unlike the man in the video, I could have "hung on" longer. And when I finally hit the ground they would have had to tase me because I would have been so insanely mad over the needless incident.

I hope this man hires a good lawyer and sues the Hillsborough County Sheriff's department for all he can.

And to think I grew up in Tampa and my brother-in-law just got off the Hillsborough County Sheriff's department to run his own business. Even he couldn't take the place any longer.

[Pastiche423]

73. You and I are in the same "predicament"

I am hemiplegic due to a TBI and basically function as a para. In January 2001, all of my fears of flying w/a chair were realized. On the last leg of my outbound trip, my chair was "lost". Talk about freak out time! When it was "found" the frame was bent. The chair never recovered. And I no longer fly.

Due to "helpful" people, I have been dropped and grabbed while in my chair. The push handles live under my bed now. NO ONE touches me in my chair w/o my permission.

If what happened to Brian happened to me, people around the world would hear my screams.

For the life of me, I can not wrap my brain around why anyone would dump someone out of a w/c.

I did a google search for Brian Sterner. It sounds like he has a very competent lawyer.

[ladywnch]

23. I'm almost surprised that this got air time given the state of affairs in this country

and that cops can do pretty much anything they want in the name of "security"

He should sue for medical bills and emotional distress

[NaturalHigh]

26. To be honest, I haven't seen a lot about it in the MSM.

A friend of mine told me about it, and I looked it up.

This incident was beyond disgusting. The deputies involved should face criminal charges.

[cstanleytech]

27. Well lets hope soon the title of the article soon is

"Two deputies who were fired today".
Usually I am more than willing to let them go through the motions before taking such action as firing but the video provides pretty damn solid evidence against them unless there is some audio portion to show him doing something to instigate it like claiming to have a bomb for example.

[boricua79]

29. WOW...some people net to get thrown off the force. NT

[-..__...]

35. Racist cops.

They come in all colors.

[Dreamer Tatum]

38. You are aware

That the victim is white and the primary perpetrator is black, right?

[-..__...]

39. Yes...

Which is why I posted "They come in all colors".

[Dreamer Tatum]

40. My bad

Should have looked deeper. Sorry.

[ReformedChris]

36. I hope this revulting situation results in a lawsuit and the termination of the culprit staff...

Absolutely Horrible Video, I hope the Personal Injury Attorneys are lining up in the road to represent this gentleman. He was total class on that video and was very kind.

[mtnester]

37. $$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$ $

yep, and he deserves every single penny...

Can you say out of court settlement?

And in that video, I see one person that deserves to lose their job, one that needs a suspension, and three others that need something in writing in their permanent record for watching and ignoring.

[DeSwiss]

41. BREAKING: Police Suspended For Wheelchair Dumping

Source: Associated Press

1 hour, 31 minutes ago:

TAMPA, Fla. - Four Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies have been suspended after purposely tipping a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair at a jail, authorities said Tuesday. Orient Road Jail surveillance footage from Jan. 29 shows veteran 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 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. "It didn't register with her that she was asking me to do something I can't do."

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." He said the officers' actions were an aberration.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080213/ap_on_re_us/wheelchair_dumping

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- "An aberration, huh?

So Chief, how many of these aberrations do you have to have before it becomes... like a problem?"

[sakabatou]

42. Suspended?

I'm wondering why they weren't fired...

[DeSwiss]

44. Lawyers....... :-|

:P

[fenriswolf]

43. this mirrors the other police video thats been going around

in the first one a women is held down and stripped, unable to move or defend herself dispite her cries for help

same thing with the guy, except they didnt need to restrain him.

[DeSwiss]

46. Speaking of mirrors....

...since way back when with Rodney King, video cameras developed to catch crooks, have shown that there are quite a few of them wearing badges...

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

45. I just saw that one today...

Along with the video of the Baltimore cop roughing up a 14-year-old diabetic skate kid about the size of a bar of hotel soap. John Cole, over at Balloon Juice is real good about posting these videos, with suitable commentary.

After seeing both these videos and others sadly like them over the past few years, I have but one question:

Anyone want to open a betting book on the date that the riots start?

[DeSwiss]

47. I've lived through riots once....

...it just makes cops worse.

[aquart]

48. Nonsense. We're about to elect a uniter not a divider.

And he's compassionate, too.

[Kelvin Mace]

51. I posted it as well with commentary

This guy will be involved in a shooting REAL soon if he stays on the force.

http://www.thoughtcrimes.org/s9/index.php?/archives/2260-The-fat-blue-line.html

[muryan]

60. that cop wouldn't have done that to me

ive had something similar to that happen to me once, i ended up in cuffs and the cop got a two week suspension. I guess ive always had a problem with authority but that kid said nothing disrespectful in my opinion.

[FlyingSquirrel]

49. After a traffic violation?

Shall I assume he wasn't the driver?

[LisaL]

50. Why exactly would you assume that?

He was driving, his car has special accommodations for him to drive.

[Homer Wells]

67. According to the news report

this guy was described as a "Quadriplegic", which means that he has no use of either his Arms Or Legs. I have never seen an automobile that is designed to accommodate a person with such a disability. I guess the could have meant a "Paraplegic".

:think:

[Pastiche423]

55. You know what they say about AssUMe-ing

The disabled have been able to drive for quite some time now, using hand controls.

[izquierdista]

59. Yes, quite a long time

[FlyingSquirrel]

64. I thought quadriplegic meant all 4 limbs

[DeSwiss]

66. He's paralyzed from the chest down....

...and is therefore considered a quadriplegic.

[Pastiche423]

70. It does

Quad = four, as in four limbs are affected. A friend of mine has an injury level of C - 5/6, meaning he was injured at the 5th and 6th cervical vertebra. He has very limited use of his hands, but can "grab" a knob on his steering wheel. His van is fitted w/hand controls.

[FloridaJudy]

52. Video here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYMKyJRAabE

Unbelievable! Someone needs to take their badges and make sure they're never allowed to work in law enforcement again. What's even worse than humiliating and possibly injuring someone who was no threat whatsoever, is that one of the cops was laughing.

I'm reminded of the infamous Zimbardo prisoner study at Stanford. http://www.prisonexp.org/

[Joanne98]

68. I just posted that on videos!

I hope u don't mind!

[FloridaJudy]

71. No problem

Chilling, isn't it?

[pingzing58]

53. North Florida is no different than Arizona With a bit of authority they think they're above the law

[nealmhughes]

54. Shouldn't "suspended" be replaced with "arrested"?

The cop shop witnessed an assault of four armed people against a man in a wheelchair. Seems pretty prima facie to me. . .

[Demeter]

56. Who are You Going to Believe--Authorities or Your Lying Eyes?

My apologies to Groucho.

[slackmaster]

62. Headline sounds like it was written by a sports writer

I wonder what the penalty is for wheelchair dumping.

[pinniped]

57. It appears the other coppers were in no rush to assist the victim.

Just another day at the station, I suppose.

They are all complicit in this matter and should all be canned.

Let's hope the chief follows through with this.


"The actions are indefensible at every level," Chief Deputy Jose Docobo said. "Based on what I saw, anything short of dismissal would be inappropriate." He said the officers' actions were an aberration.

[The Backlash Cometh]

58. I am glad they suspended that officer,

but that's not a usual occurrence. Florida jails must be taking some heat.

[WatchWhatISay]

61. Educate me please

Not that this excuses what the officers did, but throughout the video the victim appears to have use of his arms. Why are they calling him a quadrapalegic? Can one have use of his limbs to a limited extent and still be considered paralyzed in those limbs?

[atreides1]

63. Consider yourself educated

From the report:

Sterner can drive a car but has not been able to walk since a 1994 wrestling accident. He has no feeling below his sternum and has partial use of his arms.

[Zephyrbird]

65. Did anybody see the video???!!!!!! By the gods!

Dumped straight onto the floor by a VERY hefty deputy while another just stands by and watches. The one doing the dumping just flipped the guy out of the wheelchair as though he weighed 2 pounds.

WHAT IN THE NAME OF ST. PETER was wrong with that woman!!! I say kneecap her and let her be in a wheelchair for six months. Then we can all scream at her to get her fat ass out of that wheelchair! When she can't, she should be dumped on the floor over and over.

As a person born with a disability I can tell you this behavior toward disabled people is as common as houseflies.

WHAT A BUNCH OF BULLIES!!!

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[sarcasmo]

69. Power Tripping Nazi's.

I thought about making it into a song.

[sweetpotato]

72. Well that's the problem right there

.....Sterner 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. "It didn't register with her that she was asking me to do something I can't do.".....

If he had only complied with the officer, he wouldn't have gotten hurt, right?
:sarcasm:

[Dirtman 1]

75. Outrageous

I am outraged for two reasons:

(1) As many have already stated, this individual has no business being a police officer. (I suspect the chief will likel come to the same conclusion and make this happen for him) And,

(2) The generalizations a number of posters have made about all police. Come on folks, don't let the negative (even abominable)actions of a very small minority of police oficers cause all police officers to be blamed. Not only is this unfair, it is just as bad as the despicable actions of this idiot in the video.

[Pastiche423]

76. Sorry

Don't know where you live (because you have no profile), but in the many places I have lived, your "very small minority" is a majority.

If cops want respect, they must earn it.

[Dirtman 1]

77. No majority

I've lived in a number of places around the country, but primarily on the east coast. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but in all the places I have lived there is no way the majority of cops were idiots like this guy. In fact percentage wise the folks generalizing about police on this thread would be higher than the percentage of bad cops. The vast majority of policemen (and women) genuinely try to do a great job for the general public.

[Pastiche423]

78. It must be nice to have lived such a sheltered life

Not everyone has had that opportunity.

Btw, the cop that dumped Brian Sterner out of his w/c was a woman. Reading comprehension problem?

[BreweryYardRat]

80. I hang out in one Starbucks a LOT, and there are usually quite a few cops in there at shift-end.

I may see what I can do about getting their anonymous opinions and then getting said opinions published. We've got a couple local papers that would appreciate it.

Freelance journalism.

[Yukari Yakumo]

83. Another day, another pig that needs a bullet in the head {nt}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSvD5SM_uI4