Title: Dept Says Cop Followed Procedure When He Mistook a 70-yo Man’s Stroke for DUI and Beat Him Source:
Free Thought Project/FOX4/Kansas City URL Source:http://thefreethoughtproject.com/po ... ni-stroke/#IlDF981CGh2ECvM3.99 Published:Oct 2, 2015 Author:Andrew Emett Post Date:2015-10-02 13:10:26 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:4865 Comments:32
Marshall, MO — Police refuse to investigate an off-duty officer of using excessive force after mistaking an elderly stroke victim for a drunk driver. Immediately after throwing a 70-year-old man out of his truck, the cop restrained him on the ground by pressing his knee into a blocked artery on the side of the elderly man’s neck. Although the elderly man repeatedly informed the officer that he was suffering from a stroke, the enraged cop continued to manhandle him until other officers finally arrived.
While driving to Walmart around 6 p.m. on Sunday, 70-year-old James Miller began feeling dizzy and ill before veering off the road and accidentally hitting a house with his pick-up truck. Instead of correctly reading the situation, off-duty Columbia police Sgt. Scott Hedrick ran out of the house and immediately pulled Miller out of the vehicle. After slamming the elderly man to the ground, Hedrick pressed his knee into a blocked artery on the right side of Miller’s neck.
“He had my arm twisted behind my back. I said it was hurting and he said, ‘I’ll break your arm,’” Miller told FOX 4.
Although Miller repeatedly asked Sgt. Hedrick to remove his knee because Miller believed that he was having a stroke, the off-duty cop ignored his pleas and accused him of being drunk without even bothering to smell his breath. A Marshall police officer later arrived at the scene and found Hedrick restraining the compliant elderly man on the ground. After placing the 70-year-old in handcuffs, the officer gave Miller a sobriety test and verified he was sober.
On Monday, Miller’s doctor confirmed that he had suffered a mini-stroke when he lost control of his truck. Due to a pre-existing blocked artery in his neck, Miller suspected that he had been showing signs of a stroke but was unable to pull over in time.
According to a police report, Hedrick’s wife had been standing near the area where Miller’s vehicle hit the house. Instead of rationally assessing the situation, Hedrick lost his temper and immediately began treating the stroke victim like a reckless criminal. An officer at the scene reported that there was a crack in the house and minor damage to the front left bumper of Miller’s vehicle.
“I told him [Hedrick] I’m having medical problems, and he said he didn’t care,” Miller recalled. “They’ve got a job to do. They go through a lot, and they don’t get paid enough for what they do. But this guy stepped over the line.”
This week, a spokeswoman for the Columbia Police Department announced that the department has decided not to investigate Hedrick for use of excessive force.
" a spokeswoman for the Columbia Police Department announced that the department has decided not to investigate Hedrick for use of excessive force. "
I would assume this man will file a civil suit, and if the facts are as given, I would imagine that afterwards, the spokeswoman,and her compadres will have the smirk wiped off their faces.
I would assume this man will file a civil suit, and if the facts are as given, I would imagine that afterwards, the spokeswoman,and her compadres will have the smirk wiped off their faces.
It is their liability insurance that will pay and the taxpayers will face marginally higher liability insurance rate increases.
We need independent prosecutors just to evaluate and indict cops who are criminal. And we need to change laws so that police chiefs and officers are no longer immune from liability for their actions.
In terms of liability, we need to attach tracking of misbehavior to individual cops since bad cops tend to move from one PD to another. Their past misconduct should automatically raise the costs to insure their PD, making them less desirable as employees due to higher inherent costs.
As it is, the good cops who follow their training and department policy suffer from the actions of the worst cops on their force or from bad leadership that tolerates brutal or careless cops on the force.
We end up with a system where there is little incentive for good behavior because there are so few consequences for bad behavior. When good policing is equally rewarded as bad policing, you can't expect good results over time.
We need a system that incentivizes good behavior and that serves to drive out the bad apples.
I've actually experienced this. Years back, I was on patrol one Sunday morning, around 0730 hrs. Found a car that was unoccupied, warm and in a ditch. Found the occupant walking in the rain about a mile away. Slurred speech (so slurred, it was almost impossible to understand her), poor motor skills... and combative. She stated she left a home that I knew to be a drug dealers home... and that she didn't know why she was walking in the rain. I smelled no alcohol on her breath. I could tell she couldn't complete even one roadside sobriety test... and she wanted me to take her back to the druggies house.
I thought it was possible her problems were medical... but by odds, I figured she was high on some narcotic. Since I was unsure, and she wasn't able to care for herself (walking in the rain after wrecking her car while drooling)... I decided to make a mental health law arrest and bring her, against her will to the hospital. She kicked and screamed all the way to the ER. I asked the nurse (a good friend of mine) to text me with the prognosis. The nurse thought she was impaired by drugs... I still wasn't sure.
I received a text later that day... no BAC... she had a stroke. She also had a small amount of THC in her blood.
At least 8 out of 10 cops I know would have hooked her up for DWI or DWAI.
At least 8 out of 10 cops I know would have hooked her up for DWI or DWAI.
The rest of the story....
The off-duty sergeant from the Columbia Police Department faces no legal liability. The on-duty officers from the Marshall Police Department face no legal liability. No city or municipality faces legal liability.
Miller told police he was going to Walmart and missed a turn. He told the responding officer he was going to turn around and turned onto a driveway, but he was not aware it was a driveway. Miller told police he then yawned and started to feel as if he was passing out. Miller told the officer he thought he saw a white vehicle in front of him backing up. He then ran into the house.
Miller was impaired. He turned onto a driveway without knowing it was a driveway, saw an imaginary vehicle backing up at him, and drove into a house where an off duty police sergeant was present as a guest. Miller faces legal liability and possible revocation of his driver's license, depending on his medical condition.
Miller went to his doctor the next day and Miller asserts his doctor confirmed he suffered a ministroke when he lost control of his truck.
Dept Says Cop Followed Procedure When He Mistook a 70-yo Man’s Stroke for DUI and Beat Him
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Police refuse to investigate an off-duty officer of using excessive force after mistaking an elderly stroke victim for a drunk driver.
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Although the elderly man repeatedly informed the officer that he was suffering from a stroke, the enraged cop continued to manhandle him until other officers finally arrived.
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Instead of rationally assessing the situation, Hedrick lost his temper and immediately began treating the stroke victim like a reckless criminal.
MISSTATEMENT: The man had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack, also called a ministroke), not a stroke (also called a brain attack).
Although Miller repeatedly asked Sgt. Hedrick to remove his knee because Miller believed that he was having a stroke, the off-duty cop ignored his pleas and accused him of being drunk without even bothering to smell his breath.
The man had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack, also called a ministroke), not a stroke (also called a brain attack).
Had the sergeant been pressing his knee into a partially blocked carotid artery, and Miller was having a stroke, it is unlikely the man would have stayed awake and been conversing with the off-duty sergeant.
Police refuse to investigate an off-duty officer of using excessive force after mistaking an elderly stroke victim for a drunk driver.
Assumption of fact: "mistaking an elderly stroke victim for a drunk driver." As in the headline, the off-duty sergeant reasonably suspected the driver of "DUI" — Driving Under the Influence. The driver admittedly was impaired. Alcohol is not the only impairing drug.
Immediately after throwing a 70-year-old man out of his truck, the cop restrained him on the ground by pressing his knee into a blocked artery on the side of the elderly man’s neck.
Omission: The man ran his truck into a house where an off-duty police sergeant was present. Family member and guest, Off duty Police Sergeant Scott Hedrick restrained the driver. The resident of the home, Steven Hartwig, called 911. On duty Marshall police performed the sobriety test. That strongly suggests there was no stroke victim.
Assumption of fact: Whether Sgt. Hedrick pressed his knee into an artery on the side of Miller's neck, and whether it was a blocked artery, are not substantiated by more than a claim of a man who was so impaired that he had just driven his car into a driveway without realizing it was a driveway, thought he saw a white vehicle backing up toward him, and drove his vehicle into a house. Such state of impairment does not yield a reliable witness.
After slamming the elderly man to the ground, Hedrick pressed his knee into a blocked artery on the right side of Miller’s neck.
Omission: The connection of the alleged pre-existing blockage in his neck artery to the TIA is speculative on the part of Miller. Nothing about it is attributed to a statement of a doctor. A TIA or ministroke is caused by a very temporary blockage of a vessel inside the brain.
On Monday, Miller’s doctor confirmed that he had suffered a mini-stroke when he lost control of his truck. Due to a pre-existing blocked artery in his neck, Miller suspected that he had been showing signs of a stroke but was unable to pull over in time.
Omission: The connection of the alleged pre-existing blockage in his neck artery to the TIA is speculative on the part of Miller. Nothing about it is attributed to a statement of a doctor. A TIA or ministroke is caused by a very temporary blockage of a vessel in the brain.
Miller not only had time to pull over, he pulled into a driveway, but was too impaired to realize he was in a driveway. He imagined a vehicle backing up at him and proceeded to drive into a house which happened to be occupied by a visiting off-duty police sergeant.
The off-duty sergeant rationally assessed the situation. A man drove up a driveway and into the house the sergeant was at, near where the sergeant's wife was standing. The man appeared to be impaired. He restrained the man, rendering him harmless. The on-duty police responded to a 911 call and took over the assessment and disposition of Miller.
This week, a spokeswoman for the Columbia Police Department announced that the department has decided not to investigate Hedrick for use of excessive force.
The off-duty sergeant at the scene acted to restrain the impaired driver.
Strokes and TIAs (ministrokes) show very similar initial symptoms and call for identical treatment. Thinking is impaired. The brain does not feel pain, so it is painless.
With a TIA, the clot dissolves within a matter of a few minutes, leaving no permanent damage. You may just feel sluggish and generally like crap for a few days. A TIA is the initial stage of a stroke-like event that aborts before a stroke occurs.
A stroke, the big kahuna, progresses a bit differently. A progressive experience of weakness on one side. The muscles on one side have quit working. That includes the muscles that work the tongue and the sphincter. You need to go #2 urgently and talk like you are a drunk or from Brooklyn, or perhaps Benecio del Toro in the Usual Suspects.
Symptoms progress until you get to the hospital and get something to break the clot.
Symptoms do not disappear when the clot dissolves. Strokes leave permanent damage. Part of the brain has died and will not be repaired.
Rehab is training your brain to wire up some new connections to use your parts that no longer pay attention to your desires or commands. Your parts suffered no injury, but it hurts to flex and use them.
Rehab from a TIA or ministroke is to go home and relax. Symptoms only progress until the clot dissolves and then recede.
Marshall man accuses off-duty CPD officer of using excessive force
by Andrea Gonzales, KOMU 8 Reporter [Missouri] Posted: Sep 29, 2015 3:13 PM Updated: Sep 30, 2015 3:21 PM
MARSHALL - A Columbia Police Department spokeswoman said Tuesday the department is not investigating allegations that an off-duty CPD officer used excessive force on an elderly man.
On Sunday, James Miller, 70, drove his truck into a house in Saline County, according to Marshall Police Department documents.
Miller told police he was going to Walmart and missed a turn. He told the responding officer he was going to turn around and turned onto a driveway, but he was not aware it was a driveway. Miller told police he then yawned and started to feel as if he was passing out. Miller told the officer he thought he saw a white vehicle in front of him backing up. He then ran into the house.
That house belonged to Steven Hartwig, who called 911. CPD's Sergeant Scott Hedrick was at Hartwig's home at the time and decided to act, according to Marshall police documents.
"I observed a white male subject laying on the ground with another white male subject on top of him, holding his hands behind his back," the responding Marshall officer stated in police documents.
The man on top of Miller ended up being Hedrick, who is a Columbia police officer. He was off-duty at the time.
Miller said Hedrick threw him out of his truck onto the ground, put his knee on Miller's neck and held his arm behind his back. Miller said Hedrick threatened to break his arm.
"That man could have killed my dad," Miller's daughter, Robin Miller said.
Miller showed KOMU 8 News documents stating he has carotid artery disease. He said the hospital told him he was having a mini stroke the time of the accident.
"I told him [Hedrick] I'm having medical problems, and he said he didn't care," Miller said. "They've got a job to do. They go through a lot, and they don't get paid enough for what they do. But this guy stepped over the line."
Marshall police gave Miller a sobriety test and verified he was sober.
Miller said the off-duty officer assumed he was drunk and treated him like a criminal.
CPD Spokeswoman Bryana Larimer sent KOMU 8 News an email that said: "As with most police departments, all of our officers go through basic first responder training. Officers also receive some specific training on conditions such as excited delirium, mental health, and basic impairment (DWI, etc.). Per Columbia Police Department policy Scott notified his supervisor that he had contact with law enforcement after a vehicle collided into a family member's home at a family gathering over the weekend. In reference to how often we respond to medical problems, that is difficult to assess. However, officers make decisions [often very rapidly] based on the circumstances at hand."
No charges have been filed against the off-duty Columbia officer.
Family says off-duty officer used excessive force on 70-year-old man suffering mini-stroke
by Kasey Babbitt and Robert Townsend September 28, 2015, posted 6:34 pm Fox4KC.com
[...]
"I turned into what I thought was a street. It turned out to be a drive-way. Looked like there was a car backing up. I turned the steering wheel and hit this guy's house," said Miller.
A disoriented Miller says he couldn't believe what happened next; an off-duty officer Scott Hedrick with the Columbia Police Department ran up to him, pulled him out of his vehicle, slammed him face down to the ground and held him down with his knee on his back and neck.
"I was leaning over a little bit and the next thing I know the door jerked open and he jerked me out,” recalled Miller.
[...]
A Marshall police officer says when he got there Hedrick was restraining the elderly man on the ground. The police report states the officer then handcuffed Miller, walked him to his patrol car and noticed that he was limping. Miller says after he hit the ground he suffered swelling under his left eye and a bruise on his right leg.
Miller says he has a pre-existing blocked artery in his neck says before the accident, he thought he showed signs of a stroke.
When he went to his doctor's office on Monday, his doctor confirmed Miller did in fact suffer a mini-stroke when he lost control of his pickup.
"That man could've killed my dad last night. He was told and told what was wrong with him, what happened, but he refused to listen," said Miller’s daughter, Robin Miller.
According to a police report, Sergeant Hedrick was attending a gathering at the home when he says Miller hit the house where Hedrick’s wife was standing. Hedrick told investigators he restrained Miller until cops arrived, because he says the elderly driver refused to get out of his truck after the accident.
According to a police report, Sergeant Hedrick was attending a gathering at the home when he says Miller hit the house where Hedrick’s wife was standing. Hedrick told investigators he restrained Miller until cops arrived, because he says the elderly driver refused to get out of his truck after the accident.
Then pull the keys and let him sit there until police/medics arrive.
If the man said he was having a medical crisis, the officer was duty-bound to call an ambulance, just as if he was on-duty.
If he wanted to be a cop, he should have arrested the driver. If he just wants to be a bystander, then pull the keys and wait for the cops.
