Police Taser, Pepper Spray Mentally Disabled Deaf Man

Alabama Officer Reassigned Over Tasering of Mentally Disabled Deaf Man

Thursday, July 30, 2009

MOBILE, Ala. — A Mobile police officer who was involved in an incident where pepper spray and a Taser were used on a deaf and mentally disabled man has been put on administrative duty.

Mobile police gave out a statement Wednesday saying the officer's identity was not being released at this time and that the family of 37-year-old Antonio Love has filed a formal complaint with the department.

The officer used pepper spray and tasered Love while removing him from a Dollar General store bathroom where employees said he had been for more than an hour.

They then discovered Love was hearing impaired and was unable to communicate with officers while in the bathroom.

They attempted to have him booked on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer, but a magistrate refused.
 
Tased man still suffering after effects

Updated: Friday, 31 Jul 2009, 1:35 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 31 Jul 2009, 10:13 AM CDT

MOBILE, Ala. - Broderick Love, the brother of a deaf man that was tased by Mobile Police, said his brother is still experiencing negative side effects due to his run-in with Mobile Police.

"We were up all night, because he is still suffering," said Love. "Right now, our concern is making sure he gets better. He needs to rest."

Love referred all questions to the family's lawyer, Thomas James, out of Birmingham, Alabama.

"We aren't talking about anything, we have to refer you to our lawyer," added Love.

Love said a Birmingham lawyer was hired because, "No one here would take the case."

Birmingham attorney Tommy James of the firm Morris, Haynes and Hornsby has been retained by the family of Antonio Love. Love is the deaf and mentally challenged man who was pepper sprayed and tased in the bathroom of a Dollar General store in Mobile.

James has released the following statement to FOX10:

"I was only recently retained by Antonio's family. We have begun our investigation into this very unfortunate incident, but it is already clear that what happened to Antonio should have never happened. He has never had any run ins with the law and he was not a threat to anyone. The support Antonio is receiving from the community has been overwhelming."

Antonio Love was tased after employees of a Dollar General Store called Mobile police to report a man had been in the bathroom for a very long time.

Love's family said he was having stomach problems and stopped to use the bathroom. They add he has the mental function of a 10-year-old.

Mobile police are conducting an internal investigation on the incident. The officer involved has been taken off the beat.
 
He had been in the bathroom over an hour?.....what about other patrons/employees needing to use the bathroom?...I'm sure the Family Dollar Stores only have 1 bathroom, at least it does in my town.....

If someone was in the bathroom over an hour...I would attempt to break the door down also if they would not let me in to find out what the problem was! I would suspect drugs or suicide, or the person passed out and needed medical attention.

I still feel the man should have had someone with him, standing outside the door! If he has the mental capacity of a 10 yr. old and stayed in the bathroom an hour, then something is really wrong!
 
rockin'robin said:
He had been in the bathroom over an hour?.....what about other patrons/employees needing to use the bathroom?...I'm sure the Family Dollar Stores only have 1 bathroom, at least it does in my town.....

If someone was in the bathroom over an hour...I would attempt to break the door down also if they would not let me in to find out what the problem was! I would suspect drugs or suicide, or the person passed out and needed medical attention.

I still feel the man should have had someone with him, standing outside the door! If he has the mental capacity of a 10 yr. old and stayed in the bathroom an hour, then something is really wrong!
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Drugs, suicide, or passed out... does not need a pepper spray, taser, or both.

Besides, shouldn't the store have a key to the bathroom in case of emergencies? If the store manager had a key like that, this never would have happened. If the police peeked in and saw a guy sitting on the toilet and no obvious signs of drug use, suicide, or being passed out was visible... then the police could simply apologize and back out. That is certainly better than using the pepper spray under the door and busting through. That's enough to give anyone a heart attack. For all we know, the person in the bathroom could have been unable to speak and can't tell the police that he/she is alright.

Every job I've worked at... all bathrooms use keys for emergencies. Some stores use keys to lock the bathrooms when they're out of order. I'm surprised that this didn't happen at this store.
 
VamPyroX said:
Drugs, suicide, or passed out... does not need a pepper spray, taser, or both.

Besides, shouldn't the store have a key to the bathroom in case of emergencies? If the store manager had a key like that, this never would have happened. If the police peeked in and saw a guy sitting on the toilet and no obvious signs of drug use, suicide, or being passed out was visible... then the police could simply apologize and back out. That is certainly better than using the pepper spray under the door and busting through. That's enough to give anyone a heart attack. For all we know, the person in the bathroom could have been unable to speak and can't tell the police that he/she is alright.

Every job I've worked at... all bathrooms use keys for emergencies. Some stores use keys to lock the bathrooms when they're out of order. I'm surprised that this didn't happen at this store.
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Yeah, that's good common sense! They should have used the key to open the door....but didn't the man block the door with the umbrella? Even if he did, it seems 1 or 2 cops would have been able to push thru the door anyway. I can vision the picture more clearly now! So I do feel, yes, the cops acted too hastidly in this matter.
 
"We were up all night, because he is still suffering," said Love. "Right now, our concern is making sure he gets better. He needs to rest."
Click to expand...

Love said a Birmingham lawyer was hired because, "No one here would take the case."
Click to expand...

"I was only recently retained by Antonio's family. We have begun our investigation into this very unfortunate incident, but it is already clear that what happened to Antonio should have never happened. He has never had any run ins with the law and he was not a threat to anyone. The support Antonio is receiving from the community has been overwhelming."
Click to expand...

Mobile police are conducting an internal investigation on the incident. The officer involved has been taken off the beat.
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It's interesting a Mobile, AL lawyer wouldn't represent Antonio and the officer involved has been taken off the beat. A lawyer from another city has been hired and Mobile police is conducting an internal investigation.

The police flagrantly abused Antonio's rights to communication and accessibility, I'm surprised this is just an internal investigation. This is criminal.
 
VamPyroX said:
Drugs, suicide, or passed out... does not need a pepper spray, taser, or both.

Besides, shouldn't the store have a key to the bathroom in case of emergencies? If the store manager had a key like that, this never would have happened. If the police peeked in and saw a guy sitting on the toilet and no obvious signs of drug use, suicide, or being passed out was visible... then the police could simply apologize and back out. That is certainly better than using the pepper spray under the door and busting through. That's enough to give anyone a heart attack. For all we know, the person in the bathroom could have been unable to speak and can't tell the police that he/she is alright.

Every job I've worked at... all bathrooms use keys for emergencies. Some stores use keys to lock the bathrooms when they're out of order. I'm surprised that this didn't happen at this store.
Click to expand...

:gpost: You took the words right out of my mouth. :ty:!!

There were so many incidents in which police officers had acted unprofessional. In this case, It is sad off-course for this police officer to had acted in that manner, he should have use his common sense like in asking the store for a share of a key to enter the restroom if they had one. There is no needed in use of pepper spray, taser, or both. It's ridiculous!
 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NYYem7T-qI&fmt=]YouTube - Deaf man tased[/ame]

Someone, if you could please, transcript this.

Thanks in advance,

Yiz
 
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