- A 14-year-old boy who went into cardiac arrest after
he was zapped by a Chicago Police stun gun had not threatened police or
anyone else before he was shocked, four eyewitnesses to the February incident
say.
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- The developmentally delayed boy was sitting on a couch
in a juvenile home and was not attempting to harm anyone, the witnesses
claim in sworn court depositions obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
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- After the boy went into convulsions and fell to the floor,
the officer who used the Taser allegedly said, "Now look at this f-----'
paperwork I've got to do," at least two witnesses claim in the depositions.
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- The testimony contradicts police reports, in which a
police sergeant claims he shot the boy with the gun -- which delivers 50,000
volts of electricity -- out of fear for his own safety.
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- The depositions were taken in a civil lawsuit filed in
Cook County Circuit Court in which the Illinois Department of Children
and Family Services, the boy's guardian, charges police used excessive
force in the incident. The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 in damages on
each of two counts.
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- In court documents, the city has denied the charges.
Police spokesman Dave Bayless said many other witnesses -- including police
on the scene -- had yet to be deposed in the case. "Let all the witnesses
provide their version of events, and somewhere in there, the truth will
emerge," he said.
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- Bayless stood by the police reports filed at the time,
including one that stated the boy "stood up in an aggressive stance
with raised fists and then leg towards police" before he was stunned.
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- The officers involved -- including Sgt. Samuel Lopez,
an 11-year veteran who deployed the Taser -- remain on the job, police
said. The police Office of Professional Standards has interviewed several
witnesses but has not yet ruled.
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- Chicago Police do not have a policy banning the use of
Tasers on children, but its use remains controversial. Amnesty International
says there are no solid studies showing the weapons are safe for use on
children. But Arizona-based Taser International said tests on pigs between
66 and 257 pounds showed the weapons to be safe.
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- 'Extremely traumatic event'
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- After the Taser was used, the boy's heart stopped. He
was shocked w ith a defibrillator by medical staff four times to resuscitate
him, but he remained in a medically-induced coma for three days, medical
records show. He spent three weeks in two hospitals and often could not
remember why he was there or even visits with family members earlier in
the day. He was often confused, spoke slowly and complained of shoulder
and chest pain, the records state. Although police said the boy weighed
as much as 240 pounds, records show he weighed only 175 pounds.
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- A variety of medical tests were conducted at the time,
but the long-term impact of the Taser is not known. Cook County Public
Guardian Robert Harris, the boy's legal representative, said the boy could
undergo further tests.
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- "It was an extremely traumatic event," Harris
said. "The trauma to any organs, including the heart, is yet to be
determined."
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- Raphael Lee, director of the Electrical Trauma Research
Program at the University of Chicago, said it was unlikely a shot with
a stun gun could trigger cardiac arrest or lead to long-range problems
in a healthy person, but he said much more research is necessary. The depositions
were from four employees of Ulich Children's Home, 3737 N. Mozart, where
the boy had lived since 2003.
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- The incident happened after the boy went into a rage
at the residential center in February when a staff member took his baseball
cap. He smashed windows and allegedly pushed staff members. He then refused
treatment for his bleeding hand. But there is no evidence the boy was under
the influence of illegal drugs, Harris said.
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- By the time emergency personnel arrived, he was sitting
on a couch in an office and had calmed down, depositions show, although
some witnesses said he was still agitated. He refused medical treatment
even after Fire Department paramedics and a police officer arrived.
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- When Lopez arrived at the scene, he had a Taser in his
hand, witnesses said. The boy asked Lopez what he planned to do with the
weapon, the boy's therapist, Alvin Hill, said in a deposition. Lopez allegedly
responded, "We're going to put some juice in you," Hill recalled.
In response, the boy said, "Go ahead, shoot me with your toy gun,"
testified Ulich campus supervisor Wayne Riley, a former probation officer.
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- Police say boy was warned
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- Witnesses said they were expecting authorities would
try to physically restrain the boy and then take him in for treatment.
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- But without warning, Lopez shot the boy with the stun
gun, said Ulich program director Marvin Harris. Police reports say the
boy was warned and was told the officer did not want to use the Taser on
him.
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- Harris, Riley, Hill and Ulich nurse Charmaine Thurman
-- under questioning by Chicago attorney Paul Wolf, who conducted the depositions
on behalf of DCFS -- all said the boy posed no threat.
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- After the incident, police arrested the boy for allegedly
battering four employees at the home, but the Cook County state's attorney's
office declined to bring charges.
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- Since returning from the hospital, the now-15-year-old
boy has been transferred to a group home in the west suburbs. DCFS officials
moved him, Harris said, because they worried he "would not be treated
fairly if he came in contact with the [Chicago] Police Department."
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- Copyright 2005, Digital Chicago Inc.
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- http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-shock31.html
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