Cops beat, pepper spray and use Tasers on disabled boy permalink email story to a friend print version
Published: 30 June, 2011, 21:04 Cops beat, pepper spray and use Tasers on disabled boy
Cops beat, pepper spray and use Tasers on disabled boy
TAGS: Children, Conflict, Crime, Scandal, Accident, Politics, Human rights, Law, Corruption, USA, Culture
A 17-year-old mentally handicapped boy was opening the front door of his Dayton, Ohio home last week when police officers fired their Tasers at him before allegedly punching the disabled child in the chest and spraying him with mace.
The incident arose after Jesse Kersey was approached by police while on his bicycle on Saturday. The boy’s mother, Pamela Ford, says her son was stopped by Officer Willie Hooper, who tried to talk to Jesse and then mistook his speech impediment as disrespect towards the copper.
"Prior to the incident . . . Hooper knew Jesse and was aware that Jesse was mentally challenged,” his mom says in a statement, however.
Jesse became confused when Hooper began shouting, though, and began heading back to his house to have his mother help communicate for him. There on his front steps, two officers fired their Tasers.
In a civil complaint filed in Dayton County this week, Ford says that officers Hooper and John Howard entered the home and struggled with her son. She says Jesse was standing against a door with his hands in front of his face, pleading “Please quit, please quit.”
Then, she says, Jesse was “hogtied” and put into a police car and eventually jail.
Around 20 officers by then had reported to the scene.
Ford says that a neighbor tried to alert Officer Hooper that Jesse was disabled as he chased the boy home, but he was instead reprimanded and warned that, if he did not go back into his home, he would be arrested.
That statement also notes that "On numerous occasions, Ford and a family friend, Christopher Peyton, informed Officer Hooper that Jesse was mentally challenged/handicapped, and that Jesse did not understand what was happening.”
"At no point, even after being advised of Jesse's mental challenge/handicap by Jesse's family and numerous bystanders, did defendant Hooper, defendant Howard, or any other police officer present, attempt to communicate with Jesse or explain in terms he could understand as to why Jesse was being chased.”
Somehow the ordeal pinnacled with Jesse being booked for assault, resisting arrest and obstructing official business, but charges were dropped by the Montgomery County Juvenile Court after the boy was declared incompetent.
Now Ford and an attorney are seeking damages from Dayton and Hooper and Howard for false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, assault, battery, excessive use of force, infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.
The plaintiffs have not yet specified how much they will be seeking, other than it should total at least $300,000. Richard Boucher, a Dayton attorney for over 23 years, will be representing the family.
Once again. Moronic officers using 50,000 volt tasers. How many times did they zap the kid? The same thing happened to retarded kid using the toilet. The officers tased, pepper spray, while they got him off the toilet.
Why was the cop "questioning" the boy initially? I'm thinking (just a guess) that Jesse is the type of person that wouldn't be doing blatantly illegal things.
If this is true, I think I'm going to throw up. What a vile man. What kind of retardation did he have? If it's not visible........ maybe. But seriously he had to know.
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05:44 PM
avengador1 Member
Posts: 35468 From: Orlando, Florida Registered: Oct 2001
Once again. Moronic officers using 50,000 volt tasers. How many times did they zap the kid? The same thing happened to retarded kid using the toilet. The officers tased, pepper spray, while they got him off the toilet.
Please don't use the word "retarded" when talking about disabled people. It isn't appropiate or respectful to them.
Sorry, I missed a letter. Using the word retarded is not appropriate because it is an epithet.
ep·i·thet noun \ˈe-pə-ˌthet also -thət\
Definition of EPITHET
a: a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing b: a disparaging or abusive word or phrase c: the part of a taxonomic name identifying a subordinate unit within a genus
[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 06-30-2011).]
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07:33 PM
Flamberge Member
Posts: 4268 From: Terra Sancta, TX Registered: Oct 2001
Please don't use the word "retarded" when talking about disabled people. It isn't appropiate or respectful to them.
Not to stir things up, but doesn't "retarded" refer to the general category of mental retardation? Would you be ok with mentally retarded? If not what is the current politically correct nonoffenseive term to refer to someone who suffers from mental retardation?
By the way this news story is pathetic. The cops weren't trying to subdue a violent known criminal. It looks like they were just trying to bully a poor kid who just wanted to go home.
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07:47 PM
PFF
System Bot
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
Sorry, I missed a letter. Using the word retarded is not appropriate because it is an epithet.
[/QUOTE]
Okay, here you go.
quote
Originally posted by madcurl:
Once again. Moronic officers using 50,000 volt tasers. How many times did they zap the kid? The same thing happened to a kid suffered from mental retardation while using the toilet. The officers tased, pepper spray, while they got him off the toilet.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 06-30-2011).]
Sorry, I missed a letter. Using the word retarded is not appropriate because it is an epithet.
ep·i·thet noun \ˈe-pə-ˌthet also -thət\
Definition of EPITHET
a: a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing b: a disparaging or abusive word or phrase c: the part of a taxonomic name identifying a subordinate unit within a genus
So I now cannot simply state that I have grass in my yard, and instead have to tell you the exact type? Or that I have pets, instead naming each one by it's scientific name? Do you realize how ignorant this could get?
I am not going to stop using the word "retarded" to describe someone who is well, retarded. It's the term I grew up with, it's a general term, and it works.
I am also going to use the term "cripple" when describing someone such as my wife who is crippled.
My car is a car, the tree in my yard is a tree, the grass in my yard is grass, and my dogs are dogs, they crap on the grass. This PC bs needs to come to a stop. Nobody used anything that had a hint of hate in it until people were smacked with the "I'm offended" line.
And I have immediate close family with severe mental problems, they are retarded, it's actually a diagnosis that was given two of them.
Brad
[This message has been edited by twofatguys (edited 06-30-2011).]
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08:00 PM
Rainman Member
Posts: 3877 From: Cincinnati, Ohio Registered: Jan 2003
Dayton is not far from me at all, I get Dayton and Cincinnati stations, never heard of this story. Doing a google search I can't find anything in the results from a local news station referencing this. Interesting, I wonder why not.
It's interesting that people are more concerned with what to call the mentally challenged boy than the abuse he received.
That's what I was thinking ^^^^. Any way, why were the police officers ( I hesitate to use "cops") stopping these two individuals for that required the use of such force?
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12:27 PM
Pyrthian Member
Posts: 29569 From: Detroit, MI Registered: Jul 2002
Originally posted by twofatguys: So if we can step back for a minute here.
Why was the cop "questioning" the boy initially? I'm thinking (just a guess) that Jesse is the type of person that wouldn't be doing blatantly illegal things.
Brad
kinda what I am wondering too was anyone watching the boy? apparantly not. but - I am endlessly amused by the picture of the cop chasing the boy home. pictureing something like a stooges episode.....
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12:27 PM
2.5 Member
Posts: 43235 From: Southern MN Registered: May 2007
Sorry, I missed a letter. Using the word retarded is not appropriate because it is an epithet.
ep·i·thet noun \ˈe-pə-ˌthet also -thət\
Definition of EPITHET
a: a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing b: a disparaging or abusive word or phrase c: the part of a taxonomic name identifying a subordinate unit within a genus
Just want to point out I don't think that is correct.
A person can be retarded, or have a retardation, what they cannot be (excuse me) is a "retard".
But really different folks are offended by different things, once people thought it was funny to make fun of people that word became offensive.
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 07-01-2011).]
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01:23 PM
Flamberge Member
Posts: 4268 From: Terra Sancta, TX Registered: Oct 2001
It's interesting that people are more concerned with what to call the mentally challenged boy than the abuse he received.
Here is what I said:
quote
Originally posted by Flamberge:
By the way this news story is pathetic. The cops weren't trying to subdue a violent known criminal. It looks like they were just trying to bully a poor kid who just wanted to go home.
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02:05 PM
2.5 Member
Posts: 43235 From: Southern MN Registered: May 2007
It's interesting that people are more concerned with what to call the mentally challenged boy than the abuse he received.
I guess its because its not everyday we will see such abuse, daily we can make "slurs" or witness them. But yeah. I mean we are outraged as we can get on a forum I guess.
Lawsuit over Tasing on handicapped 17-year-old pits differing stories By Doug Page and Lou Grieco, Staff Writers 3:05 PM Friday, July 1, 2011
DAYTON — A mother and her mentally challenged son are suing the city and two police officers, claiming they assaulted the boy after mistaking his speech impediment for disrespect.
The initial police incident report and a 22-page use of force report tell a different story of police officers struggling not only with the son, but his mother and a family friend.
The lawsuit requests a minimum of $250,000 in compensation, plus damages and legal fees.
The lawsuit, filed June 24 by Pamela Ford and Jesse Kersey, claims that Officer Willie Hooper knew Kersey was mentally handicapped and a minor before he encountered the boy on June 25, 2010, at the corner of Andrews Street and St. Paul Avenue.
The 17-year-old was riding his bicycle when Hooper tried to talk with him. But Hooper became angry and started yelling at Kersey, so the boy rode his bike home so he could ask his mother to communicate with Hooper for him, the lawsuit states.
Hooper chased the boy back to his home, where he met with Officer John Howard. At one point, a neighbor tried to tell Hooper about Kersey’s disabilities, but was told to go back into his home or he would be arrested, the lawsuit states.
The officers shot Kersey in the back with their Tasers as he opened his front door. They fought with him, and during the struggle, the officers struck him with fists and a retractable nightstick and pepper-sprayed him, then hog-tied him, the lawsuit states.
“Jesse was declared incompetent by the Montgomery County Juvenile Court and the charges against Jesse were dismissed,” the lawsuit states.
According to the police incident report, Hooper first saw the boy, later identified as Kersey, riding his bike the wrong way down on Andrews Street. When Kersey spotted the police cruiser he started riding on the sidewalk. When Hooper yelled for Kersey to stop, the boy took off up St. Paul Avenue, dumping his bike in front of his house. Finding the front door lock, Kersey turned on Hooper, who had mounted the front porch to issue Kersey a bicycle citation, and began to struggle, according to the police report. “Kersey started swinging his arms at Officer Hooper and yelling in an unintelligible language,” according to the police report.
An attempt to Tase the struggling boy, who was described as 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, was unsuccessful. Kersey’s mother opened the door and pulled her son in, at which point Hopper fired his Taser, hitting the 17-year-old in the back. The mother pulled out one of the probes, and Kersey fled through the house to the kitchen.
Hooper attempted to take control of Kersey, but had to fight off his mother and later a family friend. It turned into a donnybrook in the kitchen as Hopper and Officer Howard, who arrived as backup, struggled to subdue Kersey, while keeping the mother and family friend out of the fray. At one point, dispatchers called for all officers in East Dayton to respond to the scene.
Neither Tasing nor pepper spray were effective. Officers used physical strikes and baton strikes to the thigh to take Kersey to the ground and handcuff him. It took several officers to get Kersey to a police cruiser, at one point placing his feet in a hobble so he could no longer kick them.
Kersey was taken to Grandview Hospital for treatment of his injuries. While there he spoke with Sgt. Roger Brown, who was investigating the use of force.
According to Brown’s report, Kersey said “he was not sure why he ran from the officer, but believed he was scared. He stated he wanted to go home, and the officer would not let him.”
Kersey was later released from the hospital and taken to the Montgomery County Juvenile Justice Center.
After speaking with witnesses, reviewing the police reports, photographing the injuries, the report exonerated Hooper and Howard of any allegations of wrong-doing.
The mother, who went by the name of Pamela Thompson at the time, was charged and convicted of resisting arrest and obstructing official business in Dayton Municipal Court. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended, and ordered to participate in an anger management program, according to court records. She was initially fined $100, plus $111 in court costs, which have not been paid.
The family friend was convicted of resisting arrest, given a 90-day sentence with 78 days suspended. He also was fined, which has yet to be paid.
All of this over a bicycle citation. Did they really have to use night sticks, pepper spray and tasers to give the kid a bicycle citation? He already ran to his home. They could have just written it up and handed it to his mother.
I'm not so sure about what the mother and family friend did. On one hand, they were interfering with the police. On the other, I don't know what I would do if I was the police beating the piss out of my son.
Notice the silence from law enforcement. No outrage, no comment of how stupidly fellow officers involved. Typical police union mentalities were they stick together like glue. If the situation was turned around they'd be singing like a canary.
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06:04 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
Dayton is not far from me at all, I get Dayton and Cincinnati stations, never heard of this story. Doing a google search I can't find anything in the results from a local news station referencing this. Interesting, I wonder why not.
Originally posted by Doug85GT: All of this over a bicycle citation. Did they really have to use night sticks, pepper spray and tasers to give the kid a bicycle citation? He already ran to his home. They could have just written it up and handed it to his mother.
Agreed, 100%.
quote
On the other, I don't know what I would do if I was the police beating the piss out of my son.
I'd definitely be in jail and probably for a LOT longer than 90 days if they had forcibly entered MY home and were beating my disabled child for something as trivial as a wrong way while on a bicycle. I didn't even know what was illegal, although I suppose it is.
Old Lar, the 9mm is for defensive/protective use, not necessarily compliance.
[This message has been edited by Rainman (edited 07-02-2011).]
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12:26 AM
Formula88 Member
Posts: 53788 From: Raleigh NC Registered: Jan 2001
... something as trivial as a wrong way while on a bicycle. I didn't even know what was illegal, although I suppose it is.
....
In Iowa all bicycles had to have permits, and tax fee's paid on them. We had to get them done yearly, and the Police would give tickets for not having "current" registration. They had no issues pulling over a 9 year old, and giving them a 25 dollar fine for no, or expired registration.
They also are supposed to follow all traffic laws in most places.
In Iowa all bicycles had to have permits, and tax fee's paid on them. We had to get them done yearly, and the Police would give tickets for not having "current" registration. They had no issues pulling over a 9 year old, and giving them a 25 dollar fine for no, or expired registration.
They also are supposed to follow all traffic laws in most places.
Brad
I really need to make sure I do my due diligence if I ever relocate to a different state. FNA, I can't believe some of the stuff I read or hear about. That is crazy.
I really need to make sure I do my due diligence if I ever relocate to a different state. FNA, I can't believe some of the stuff I read or hear about. That is crazy.
So far Missouri seems decent, despite the slews of dirty cops.
BUT
If I had a choice I would be in Arizona right now, Texas is a close second.
Brad
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02:18 AM
Australian Member
Posts: 4701 From: Sydney Australia Registered: Sep 2004
Some disabled people are so able it is hard to recognize them as disabled. If 20 cops were there i would say he was convincingly able enough but not enough to explain he was disabled. Tough call but it happens all the time in life. For the record not every guide dog is a Labrador my mate who has a husky cross collie gets abused for bringing his dog into the shops so he got a labrador to save hassles which doesn't do half what the other dog can for him.
Using the word retarded is not appropriate because it is an epithet. 
